# Royal Naval Biography/Heathcote, Henry

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SIR HENRY HEATHCOTE, KNT. [Post-Captain of 1798.]
This officer, a younger son of Sir William Heathcote, Bart., of Hursley in Hampshire, and formerly M.P. for that county, by Frances, daughter and co-heiress of John Thorpe, of Embley, Hants., Esq., is descended from Samuel, third son of Gilbert Heathcote, of Chesterfield, co. Derby, Esq. who in the early part of his life went to Dantzic, where he acquired a considerable fortune with an unsullied character. He returned to England, and enjoyed the esteem of all who knew him, being a man of uncommon understanding, great commercial knowledge, and unquestionable integrity: he had the honor of being the intimate friend of the celebrated John Locke, who consulted with, and had much valuable assistance from him, in that useful undertaking, the regulation of the coin of Great Britain, as well as in several other public affairs.
Mr. Henry Heathcote was born in 1777; and early in the French revolutionary war, we find him serving as a Midshipman on board the Proserpine frigate, in the West Indies. He commanded the Alliance store-ship, on the Mediterranean station, in 1797; obtained post-rank, Feb. 5, 1798; and, in the course of the same year, brought home the Romulus of 36 guns. From this period we lose sight of him, until the renewal of hostilities in 1803, when he was appointed to the Galatea frigate. In Feb., 1804, he escorted a fleet of merchantmen to the West Indies; and on the 14th Aug. following, made an unsuccessful attempt to cut out the General Ernouf, a French privateer, formerly the British sloop of war Lilly, lying at the Saintes near Guadaloupe, The party sent on this enterprise, consisted of about 90 officers and men, no less than 65 of whom were either killed or wounded, including among the former their gallant leader, Mr. Charles Hayman, first Lieutenant of the Galatea.
Captain Heathcote was subsequently appointed in succession to la Desirée frigate, and the Lion of 64 guns. On the 30th Aug., 1811, he was tried by a court-martial at Batavia, for a breach of the 27th article of war, and for disobedience ​of orders given by the late Vice-Admiral Drury, and subsequently confirmed by Commodore Broughton; also,, for neglecting his duty, in not attending to the request of the Bombay government, to afford convoy to the China fleet. It appears, by Vice-Admiral Drury’s orders, that Captain Heathcote was directed to take charge of the western coasts and ports of India, from Cape Comorin to the bottom of the Persian Gulph, acting according to circumstances, for the preservation of the trade, and the general good of his Majesty’s service. Whilst Captain Heathcote was at Bombay, in June 1811, the Hussar frigate arrived there from England with despatches. Captain Heathcote, knowing the impossibility of his receiving any orders from Commodore Broughton, (who was then on his passage to Java,) that might arise out of these despatches, in less than three months, anticipating the detriment that might accrue to the service from his ignorance of them, and the peculiar nature of the operations then going on against Java; he, from these considerations, opened the despatches, that he might issue the necessary instructions to all whom they might concern, and act in conformity thereto himself, should circumstances require it. The despatches disclosed the belief, that eighteen French frigates and from 3 to 4,000 French troops, might reasonably be expected to be on their way to Java, for the purpose of defeating any attack on that settlement; and that they might arrive there before Commodore Broughton. Further, the despatches earnestly expressed to the commander-in-chief in India, the conviction of the Lords of the Admiralty of the great importance of the conquest of Java, to the country at large; and particularly to the interests of the Hon. East India Company, whose trade would, unless the kingdom maintained a very large, and consequently expensive force in India, be in a fair way of annihilation, by the enemy retaining possession of that island, and commanding the eastern straits, which, as their Lordships observed, are the key of the China sea, whence the Hon. Company derive their most lucrative resources. Captain Heathcote, upon possessing himself of this information, instantly proceeded for Java, to put Commodore Broughton in possession of the despatches; who, ​thereupon, being dissatisfied with Captain Heathcote’s proceedings, requested Rear-Admiral Stopford would cause an enquiry to be made into his conduct. The Court, having heard what Captain Heathcote had to offer in justification of his conduct, agreed, that the two first charges were proved; but that in consideration of the motives, which led him to deviate from the orders he had received, and which appeared to have arisen from a zeal for the good of his Majesty’s service, they deemed them of such a nature as to justify his conduct in the present instance. The charge of not affording convoy to the China ships, was not proved; and the Court did therefore adjudge Captain Heathcote to be acquited. We regret that our limits will not allow us to present our readers with the excellent defence made by Captain Heathcote. It will be found at length in the Nav. Chron. vol. 27, p. 492, et seq.
In the following year, Captain Heathcote was appointed to the Scipion, of 74 guns, which ship he commanded on the Mediterranean station, at the close of the war. He received the honor of knighthood, July 20, 1819. His brother Gilbert is a Captain, and one of his sons a Midshipman, R.N.
Agent.– J. Copland, Esq.
* ↑ No person shall sleep upon his watch, or negligently perform his duty, or forsake his station, upon pain of death, or such punishment as a court-martial shall think fit to inflict.
* ↑ Vice-Admiral William O’Bryen Drury died at Madras, March 6, 1811.