# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Popham, William

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​POPHAM. (Captain, 1819. f-p., 14; h-p., 28.)
William Popham, born in April, 1791, is eldest son of the late Rear-Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham, K.C.B.; brother of Capt. Brunswick Popham, ​R.N.; nephew of Capt. Joseph Lamb Popham, R.N. (1806), who died in 1833; and brother-in-law of Capt. John Pakenham, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, in May, 1805, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Diadem 64, commanded by his father, under whom, while holding the ratings of Midshipman and Master’s Mate, he assisted at the reduction of the Cape of Good Hope, and served on shore with the naval brigade at the capture of Buenos Ayres. Between 1807 and the date of his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant 14 Feb. 1812, he was employed on the St. Helena, Baltic, Brazilian, Home, and Mediterranean stations, in the Sampson 64, Capt. Wm. Cuming, Surveillante 38, Capt. Geo. Ralph Collier (part of the force attached to the Copenhagen expedition), Venerable 74, Capt. Sir H. K. Popham, Caledonia 120, Capt. Jas. Nash, Royal George 100, Capt. Andrew King, and Caledonia again, flag-ship of Sir Edw. Pellew. He next, from June, 1812, until advanced to the rank of Commander 23 Dec. 1814, served in the West Indies and on the coast of North America in the Narcissus 32 and Loire 38, Capts. John Rich. Lumley and Jas. Nash. In the former ship he saw much boat-service; and on one occasion in particular, 24 Nov. 1812, assisted, under Lieut. John Cririe, in boarding and carrying, under a shower of grape and langridge, productive to the British of a loss of 1 man killed and another wounded, the Joseph and Mary a mischievous privateer, mounting 4 guns, with a complement of 73 men, on a cruize between St. Domingo and Cuba. Capt. Popham’s last appointments were – on his promotion, as above, to the Pandora 16, lying in the Downs – 27 July, 1816 (12 months after he had left the Pandora), to the Hecla bomb, in which vessel he served under Lord Exmouth at the battle of Algiers – 4 Oct. following, to the Cordelia 10, at Sheerness – 1 Jan. 1817 and 9 Oct. 1818, to the Tyrian and Beaver of 10 guns each, both on the West India station – and, 2 Feb. 1819, as Acting-Captain, to the Sybille 44, bearing his father’s flag at Jamaica. In the ship last mentioned, to which he was confirmed 19 May following, he continued until Aug. 1820. He accepted the retirement 1 Oct. 1846.
He married in Aug. 1843, and has issue two children. Agents – Collier and Snee.
* ↑ Sir Home Riggs Popham was born at Gibraltar in 1762. For some years previous to the late war he was employed in surveys on the coast of Africa and in the East Indies, and rendered services for which he was thanked by the Government and the Court of Directors of the East India Company. In 1798 he commanded, in conjunction with Major-General Coote, an expedition sent to destroy the locks and sluice-gates of the Bruges Canal; in 1799 he accompanied Sir Andrew Mitchell to the Coast of Holland; and in 1601 he assisted, from the Red Sea, in driving the French out of Egypt. In 1802 Sir Home was returned to Parliament as Member for the Borough of Yarmouth. Through Lord Melville’s patronage he was appointed to the superintendence of a scheme for destroying a fleet by means never before heard of. This experiment was ludicrously called the ‘Catamaran expedition,’ and two vessels were destroyed by it off Boulogne in 1804. An attack on a larger scale was subsequently attempted at Fort Conge, but did not succeed. In the course of 1806 we find Sir Home Popham commanding the naval force employed at the reduction of the Cape of Good Hope and the capture of Buenos Ayres. He afterwards joined in the expedition of 1809 to the Scheldt; and in 1812 commanded a squadron employed in co-operation with the patriots on the North coast of Spain. From 1817 to 1820 he commanded in chief at Jamaica. Devoted to the service of Government for forty years in the East and West Indies, Africa, America, and several parts of Europe, and worn out by the Indefatigable and intense anxiety of his mind, he died at Cheltenham 11 Sept. 1820. Sir Home Popham was the inventor of a code of signals adopted in the navy.
* ↑ Vide Gaz. 1816, p. 1792.