# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Williams, Richard Nicholls

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​WILLIAMS. (Lieut., 1813. f-p., 17; h-p., 24.)
Richard Nicholls Williams entered the Navy, 22 May, 1806, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Sampson 64, Capt. Wm. Cuming, in which ship he visited Rio de Janeiro and the Rio de la Plata, and thence proceeded to the Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena. On his return he joined, in May, 1807, the Inflexible 64, Capt. Joshua Rowley Watson, lying in Gillingham Reach. In the following month he removed to the Cyane 22, Capt. Thos. Staines; and in Feb. 1808, after having served as Midshipman in the expedition against Copenhagen, he was received on board the Volage 22, Capt. Philip L. J. Rosenhagen, with whom, and with Capt. Fleetwood Broughton Reynolds Pellew, he continued employed in the Resistance 38, on the Mediterranean station, from Aug. 1810 until presented in Jan. 1814 with a commission bearing date 3 Nov. 1813. He assisted, while in the Volage, at the capture of Le Requin French national brig of 16 guns and 110 men, at the defence of Sicily against the threatened invasion of Murat, and at the reduction of the islands of Ischia and Procida; and was engaged in a variety of skirmishes and boat-attacks on the coast of Italy. When in company, in the Resistance, with the Edinburgh 74, Impérieuse 38, and Swallow, Éclair, and Pylades sloops, he aided in silencing the fire of several batteries at Port d’Anzo, where a convoy of 29 vessels fell into the hands of the British. From Dec. 1814 until 10 Dec. 1815 Mr. Williams served in the Channel and West Indies in the Goldfinch 10, Capt. John Foote; he was employed in the Transport service (he made two voyages to the Pacific) from 1827 until 1829; and from 15 June, 1831, until the summer of 1834, and from 30 Nov. 1838 until Sept. 1840, he commanded the Royalist 10 and Lightning steamer. In the former vessel, the Royalist, he was stationed in the river Douro, at St. Ube’s, for the protection of British interests. On leaving Oporto he received an address from the British merchants, and the thanks of the British Consul. He gained the acknowledgments, also, of the British Vice-Consul at St. Ube’s, and received a letter from Rear-Admiral Wm. Parker, the Commander- in-Chief, expressive of his approbation “of the zeal with which the important duties intrusted to him had been executed.” During his command of the Lightning, Mr. Williams had the honour of conveying the Queen Dowager from the Hastings 72, at Spithead, into Portsmouth Harbour. He accompanied next the Firebrand steamer, with the suite of the Grand-Duke of Russia, from Deptford to Rotterdam; and he conveyed the Grand-Duke Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and family, with the Prince Leiningen, from Portsmouth to Lisbon – the latter personage back to Plymouth, and afterwards from Woolwich to Ostend – the Duchess of Braganza from Hamburgh to Woolwich – and the Grand-Duke Ferdinand and family again from Woolwich to Ostend. On the latter occasion the Lightning, previously to her departure from Woolwich, was visited by Her Majesty the Queen, by the Duchess of Kent, and by the King and Queen of the Belgians. Before she sailed, as above, from Lisbon, Mr. Williams was presented at the hands of Prince Leiningen, and by the desire of the Queen of Portugal, with the Order of the Tower and Sword. He was appointed, 3 Aug. 1846, to the Caledonia 120, Capt. Manley Hall Dixon, at Devonport; and since 28 Jan. 1848 he has been serving there in the Agincourt 72, depôt-ship of Ordinary.
Lieut. Williams is married.