# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Connolly, Matthew (a)

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​CONNOLLY. (Commander, 1813. f-p., 24; h-p., 36.)
Matthew Connolly, born 5 July, 1776, at Chatham, is brother of Commanders J. B. and R. L. Connolly, R.N., and of Colonel Wm. Hallett Connolly, R.M., as also of the late Lieut. Peter Connolly, R.M., and the late Capt. Geo. Sloan Connolly, an officer in the Army; and uncle of Lieut. M. Connolly, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, 27 Oct. 1787, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Endymion 44, armée en flûte, Lieut.-Commander Joseph Sail, lying at Portsmouth; after which he served, as Midshipman and Master’s Mate, chiefly in the West Indies, on board the Orion 74, Capts. Andrew Sutherland and Chas. Chamberlayne, Hyaena 24, Capt. Wm. Hargood – which ship, the first lost by the British during the war, was captured, 27 May, 1793, by the French 40-gun frigate Concorde, and sent to Cape François, whence Mr. Connolly, during the ensuing massacre of the white population, had the happiness of effecting the escape of himself and the whole of his shipmates – Goelan brig, Capt. Thos. Wolley, Hannibal 74, Capt. John Colpoys, Theseus 74, Capt. Robt. Calder, and Majestic 74, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Benj. Caldwell. Having passed his examination in Nov. 1793, he was promoted, 15 Jan. 1795, to an Acting-Lieutenancy in the Terpsichore 32, Capt. Rich. Bowen; and, being confirmed on his return home 22 Aug. following, was appointed to his old ship the Theseus, Capts. R. Calder, Herbert Browell, Augustus Montgomery, and John Aylmer, employed off the coasts of France and Spain. Soon after his removal, in May, 1797, to the Irresistible 74, we find Mr. Connolly assisting at the bombardment of Cadiz; and, on the night of 3 July, suffering a loss of 3 men wounded while in command of one of the launches engaged under Lord Nelson in protecting the Thunder bomb against an attack of the Spanish flotilla before that place. From Dec. in the same year until the peace of Amiens he next served, in the Mediterranean and West Indies, on board the Emerald 36, Capts. Lord Proby, Thos. Montray Waller, and Jas. O’Bryen; and during that period assisted at the capture, besides other vessels, of – 19 June, 1799, Rear-Admiral Perrée’s squadron, consisting of three frigates and two brigs – and, 5 April, 1800, of the two Spanish 36-gun frigates El Carmen and Florentina, each laden with 1500 quintals of quicksilver. In April, 1804, Mr. Connolly obtained an appointment in the Isle of Wight district of Sea Fencibles, but removed, 13 Aug. following, as First-Lieutenant, to the Lapwing 28, Capts. Fras. Wm. Fane and Clotworthy Upton; and was subsequently appointed, in the same capacity, on the Home, Mediterranean, and Lisbon stations – 27 July. 1805, and 21 June, 1808, to the Hind 28, and Cambrian 40, Capts. Fane and Chas. Bullen – and, 18 Feb. 1812, to the Pomone 38, Capts. Fane and Philip Carteret. While in command, on the night of 14 April, 1811, of the Cambrian’s boats, he most handsomely cut out a large settee, deeply laden with grain for the French army at Barcelona, from under the Medas Islands and batteries. After serving for 14 years as a First-Lieutenant, Mr. Connolly was at length promoted to his present rank, 4 Dec. 1813; since which period he has been on half-pay.
After the peace. Commander Connolly published, by the direction of the Admiralty, “A System of Great-Gun Exercise for the Navy.” He also gave publicity to “One Universal and Uniform System of Watching, Quartering, and Stationing, adapted to all Classes of Ships.”