# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Bennett, Thomas

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​BENNETT. (Capt., 1828. f-p., 28; h-p., 22.)
Thomas Bennett, born 22 Feb. 1785, at Hereford, is nephew of Francis Bennett, Esq., Purser of the Nassau 64, who perished in that ship when wrecked on the coast of Holland, 14 Oct. 1799; and of Commander William Bennett, R.N. (1812), who died in 1819.
This officer entered the Navy, in March, 1797, as a Volunteer, on board the Monarch 74, Capt. John Elphinstone, flag-ship afterwards of Vice-Admiral Richard Onslow, under whom he fought and was wounded in the battle of Camperdown, 11 Oct. following. On leaving the Monarch, in which ship he had previously witnessed the mutiny at Spithead, Mr. Bennett successively joined the Nassau 64, Capts. Wm. Hargood and Geo. Tripp, guard-ship at the Nore, and, in the early part of 1798, the Amphion 32, Capt. Rich. Henry Alex. Bennett, employed on the North Sea, African, and West India stations. Among other achievements he assisted, while cruizing off the island of Jamaica in company with the Alarm 32, in effecting the capture, 25 Nov. 1799, of the Asturiana, Spanish letter-of-marque, mounting 28 guns, with a complement of 180 men; and for his zeal and activity on various occasions, but more especially in the boat-chase of a privateer off Port Royal, was ultimately, in 1801, transferred by the Commander-in-Chief, Lord Hugh Seymour, to his flag-ship, the Sans Pareil 80. The premature death, however, of the gallant Admiral depriving him of the immediate promotion he had been promised, Mr. Bennett did not obtain any advancement in his profession until Jan. 1802, when he appears to have been appointed Acting-Lieutenant, for a short time, of the Tartar 36, and Vanguard 74, both commanded by Capt. Jas. Walker. He returned home in the course of the same year on board the Cerberus 32, Capt. Jas. Macnamara; and on being re-appointed as Admiralty Midshipman, at the commencement of hostilities. ​to the Amphion, then commanded by Capt. Thos. Masterman Hardy, conveyed Lord Nelson to the Mediterranean, where he was promoted by his Lordship, who had previously made him his Signal Officer, into the Camelion 18, Capt. Thos. Staines, 25 July, 1803 – an act which was officially confirmed 9 Dec. following. During the next two years Mr. Bennett was warmly engaged, nearly the whole time as First-Lieutenant, in destroying the enemy’s coasting-trade between Toulon and Genoa; and on one occasion, when in command of a boat, was the only person, with the exception of two men and a boy, who was not killed or wounded. In May, 1805, after assisting at the capture, within sight of the British fleet, of Le Renard schooner, of 12 guns, he exchanged into the Seahorse, of 42 guns and 281 men, commanded at first by Capts. Hon. Courtenay Boyle and Robt. Corbett, and from April, 1806, until June, 1811, by Capt. John Stewart, in whose distinguished services during that period he proved an active participator. On the failure of Sir Arthur Paget’s pacific mission to the Sublime Porte, we find him proceeding to the Archipelago, and there employed, in Sept. and Oct. 1807, in visiting all the Cyclades, and in replacing their governments in the hands of the old primates. He further enacted the part of Second Lieutenant in the Seahorse’s brilliant night action of 5 July, 1808, when singly, with 30 of her crew absent, she defeated, after a desperate conflict of three hours, a Turkish force, consisting of the Baddere Zaffer, of 52 guns and 543 men, and Alis Fezan, of 26 guns and 230 men, both of which were at length reduced to perfect wrecks. The enemy, in the Baddere Zaffer alone, the ship captured – the other having effected her escape – sustained the prodigious loss of 170 killed and 200 wounded, while that of the Seahorse did not exceed 5 killed and 10 wounded, although her mizen-mast was shot away and her hull and rigging suffered severely. The First-Lieutenant, Mr. Geo. Downie, was in consequence promoted to the rank of Commander, and Mr. Bennett, who is now the senior surviving officer, became his successor. He soon afterwards escorted the British Ambassador, Mr. Adair, from Malta to the mouth of the Dardanells, and, during a stay of some months at Constantinople after the treaty of Jan. 1809, was twice introduced, as one of his Excellency’s suite, to the Grand Seignor, by whom he was presented with two robes of honour. Being next, in May of the same year, on a cruize between Corsica and Italy, he took command of the boats, and succeeded in obtaining possession, although garrisoned by 50 French soldiers, of the small island of Gianuti, whence, after destroying the batteries, he embarked and brought off the guns, all of them of brass. A few days after this exploit he headed a similar expedition against the island of Pianoza, near Elba, known to be defended by upwards of 100 Veteran troops, and the town by a regular fortification. Landing, nevertheless, in broad daylight, at the back of the island, he commenced an attack on the enemy’s battery, which, at the end of six hours’ hard fighting, was captured and blown up, the commandant killed, and the guns disabled. Within 24 hours from the onset the troops were all taken prisoners-of-war, and the whole place brought under subjection to the British. The gallantry displayed by Lieut. Bennett, and those employed with him, in the accomplishment of these very important services, it is needless to add, elicited the highest approbation of the Commander-in-Chief, Lord Collingwood, and of the Board of Admiralty. The Seahorse at length, after a dashing career, returned to England with Lord Amherst, and was paid off in June, 1811, from which period her First Lieutenant remained unemployed until appointed, 22 Jan. 1812, Senior of the Crescent 38, Capt. John Quilliam, under whom he served in the Baltic, and then sailed with convoy for Halifax and Newfoundland, on which latter station he witnessed the capture, 16 Sept. 1813, of the Elbredge Gerry American privateer, of 14 guns and 66 men. He invalided home in the summer of 1814, and on his arrival found that he had been at length advanced to the rank of Commander, his commission bearing date 15 June, 1814. Being appointed, 2 July, 1819, to the Cygnet 10, Capt. Bennett served in that vessel on the coast of Ireland, and afterwards off St. Helena, until the death of Buonaparte, in May, 1821, when he conveyed the intelligence of that event to the Isle of France. While in Simon’s Bay, Cape of Good Hope, in company with the Hyperion 42, Commodore Jas. Lillicrap, he had the happiness, on 10 June, 1822, of being of eminent utility in rescuing the Albion East Indiaman from destruction, when, during a strong gale, she had broken from her anchorage and had actually drifted to within a few feet of the rocks. Although the Cygnet’s boats on the occasion were the first on the spot, and were throughout of equal utility with those of the Hyperion, yet, out of a sum of 1000l. which was afterwards voted by the Hon. E.I.C. to “Commodore Lillicrap,” who was positively on shore at the moment of the occurrence, “and the officers and seamen of H.M. navy who were employed in rendering assistance to the Albion,” neither her commander nor crew ever received a shilling. On another occasion, 10 of the following month, during a furious north-wester in Table Bay, the Cygnet had the further good fortune to render material assistance to the Sarah free-trader, which was eventually wrecked, and her crew saved by two of her boats under Mr. Robt. Lee Stephens, who received his promotion in consequence. After an intermediate servitude on the coast of Africa, Capt. Bennett returned home and was paid off in May, 1823. His next appointment was, 30 April, 1827, to the Trinculo 18, on the Irish station, where he continued until posted by the Lord High Admiral, “as a reward for his long and active services,” 16 Sept. 1828. He afterwards, from 7 Feb. 1834, until paid off in March, 1838, commanded the Rainbow 28, and during that period assisted in suppressing a rebellion among the slaves at St. Kitt’s; was senior officer at Jamaica during the sickly season of 1835, when, in spite of all his efforts, the mortality on board the Rainbow was extreme; was thrice employed, for periods of several months, in protecting the fisheries at Newfoundland – a service in which he evinced great judgment and ability; and was intrusted on two occasions with the conveyance of treasure. He at length returned home, as above stated, with strong testimonials from the various Commanders-in-Chief under whom he had served, viz. Sir Geo. Cockburn, Sir Peter Halkett, and Sir Chas. Paget. He has since been on half-pay.
Capt. Bennett, who is an Alderman of the city of Hereford, held the office of Mayor in 1842. He married, 16 Nov. 1815, Sarah, daughter of Wm. Watkins, Esq., of that city, and has issue two sons and two daughters. His eldest son, Edward Watkins, died at Port Royal, Jamaica, 31 July, 1835, while serving as Midshipman on board the Rainbow, aged 19. Agent – Joseph Woodhead.
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