# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Bethune, Charles Ramsay Drinkwater

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​BETHUNE, formerly Drinkwater, C.B. (Captain, 1830. f-p., 18; h-p., 14.)
Charles Ramsay Drinkwater Bethune, born 27 Dec. 1802, is second son of the late John Drinkwater, Esq., F.S.A., a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army, of Salford, co. Lancaster, by Eleanor, daughter of Charles Congalton, Esq., of Congleton, co. Mid-Lothian; grandson of the late John Drinkwater, Esq., Surgeon, R.N., who served during the war of 1758-9 in the West Indies, where, in the Ripon 60, he was present at the capture of Guadeloupe; and nephew of the late Thos. Drinkwater, Esq., Major of the 62nd Foot, who attained distinction in the first campaigns in St. Domingo in 1793-4, and was afterwards drowned at sea.
This officer entered the Navy, 2 Aug. 1815, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Northumberland 74, Capt. Chas. Bayne Hodgson Ross, bearing the flag of Sir Geo. Cockburn, under whom he accompanied Napoleon Buonaparte to St. Helena. He next joined the Leander 60, flag-ship at Halifax of Sir David Milne; served as Midshipman with Sir Thos. Masterman Hardy in the Superb 74, and Creole 42, on the South America station; passed his examination 24 March, 1822; received, 5 Aug. following, an order to act as Lieutenant of the Doris 42, Capts. Thos. Bourchier and Wm. Jas. Hope Johnstone; and was confirmed by the Admiralty 29 Oct. in the same year. The frigate last named was for some time employed in watching the blockading squadron at Pernambuco; and was paid off 12 Jan. 1825. On 21 Aug. 1826, Lieut. Bethune was appointed to the Barham 50, fitting for the flag of Hon. Chas. Elphinstone Fleeming, Commander-in-Chief in the West Indies, where he obtained his second promotal commission, 14 April, 1828, and joined, in succession, the Ferret 10, Espiègle 18, and, in Sept. 1829, as Acting-Captain, the Magnificent receiving-ship at Jamaica. He invalided soon afterwards, and, on 22 July, 1830, was officially posted. Capt. Bethune’s next and last appointment afloat was, 9 Sept. 1836, to the Conway 28, in which frigate we find him for 18 months the Senior Officer in New South Wales – acting afterwards, in the same capacity, in the Bay of Bengal – and, in Dec. 1839, on the death of the Commander-in-Chief, assuming, until the arrival of Sir Gordon Bremer, the direction of all H.M. ships in India. In discharge of the responsible duties which there for a while devolved upon him, he assisted the Governor-General in organizing the Chinese expedition, and exercised his authority, to the full approbation of the Admiralty, in preserving tranquillity at Rangoon. In June, 1840, Capt. Bethune, in charge of a division of transports, himself accompanied the armament to China, and bore a zealous part in the operations that followed. At the taking, on 5 July, of Ting-hai, the capital of Chusan (the harbour of which island he had been previously employed in reconnoitering), he formed one of the scaling party, and had the honour of presenting the Commanderin-Chief, in absence of the keys, with the bell of the place. In the course of the same month he was also attached to the blockading force off Ningpo; and he was then deputed, with the Algerine brig, and Young Hebe tender, under his orders, to examine and report on the entrance of the Yang-tse-Kiang, the practicability of which as a channel for large ships he fully established. On returning to Chusan, Capt. Bethune was constantly employed, up to the time of its surrender in 1841, in the survey of that Archipelago. At the capture, on 13 March, of the last fort protecting the approaches to Canton, he commanded the boats under Capt. Herbert, whose thanks he received for the steady manner in which they were brought to the attack. He also assisted Capt. Bourchier in directing the movements of the flotilla at the ensuing capture of the city itself; and on that occasion, as well as during the operations which led to its second reduction, Capt. Herbert officially declared his thanks as due to “that excellent officer Capt. Bethune.” After the latter event, the Conway was sent home with invalids from the fleet, and 2,000,000 dollars of the Chinese ransom. On his arrival in England, in Jan. 1842, Capt. Bethune found that for his services he had been rewarded, 29 July, 1841, with the decoration of a C.B. He has since been on half-pay.
In 1835 Capt. Bethune was attached to the embassy of the late Earl of Durham for the purpose of reporting on the naval establishments of Russia. He was appointed, in Jan. 1846, an Assistant to the Hydrographer at the Admiralty. He married, 26 Feb. 1846, Frances Cecilia, only child of Henry Stables, Esq., of Park Hill, Clapham. Agents – Collier and Snee.
* ↑ Capt. Bethune, on his mother’s inheriting, in 1837, the estates of her brother, Gilbert (Congalton) Bethune, Esq., assumed that surname in addition to his patronymic “Drinkwater.”
* ↑ Vide Gaz. 1840, pp. 2990-1.
* ↑ Vide Gaz. 1841, p. 1508.
* ↑ Vide Gaz. 1841, pp. 1504, 2505.