# Royal Naval Biography/Dobbie, William Hugh

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WILLIAM HUGH DOBBIE, Esq. A Magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Essex. [Post-Captain of 1806.]
Second and youngest son of the late George Dobbie, Esq. a native of Ayrshire, and possessed of considerable property ​in America, who died at the beginning of the dispute between Great Britain and her transatlantic colonies, by which event the bulk of his fortune was totally lost to his family. The Dobbie family came over from France with Mary Queen of Scots, and settled in Berwickshire, from whence this officer’s great grandfather, Robert Dobbie, Esq. Chamberlain of Giffen, removed into Ayrshire about the commencement of the 18th century. Mr. William Hugh Dobbie’s mother was the daughter of Samuel Staple, Esq. a naval officer, who died on board the Grafton of 70 guns, during the siege of Pondicherry, in 1761.
The subject of this memoir was born in London, Nov. 3, 1771; and he first embarked as a Midshipman on board the Hector 74, under the auspices of her Captain, the late Sir John Hamilton, Bart, in the spring of 1783. After the demise of that officer (Jan. 1784), we find him successively serving in the Hector, Edgar, Ardent, Bellona, and Hebe, under the command of the following distinguished characters: Sir John Collins, who died in command of the Berwick 74, off Toulon, in 1794; Sir Charles Thompson, died Mar. 17, 1799; Sir Francis Hartwell, late Deputy Comptroller of the Navy; and Sir Edward Thornbrough, now an Admiral of the White.
At the latter end of 1789, Mr. Dobbie proceeded to the East Indies, as fifth mate of a ship in the Honorable Company’s service; there being then no prospect of a war, and consequently no chance of his obtaining the rank for which he had become qualified.
Notwithstanding Mr. Dobbie’s temporary secession from the royal navy, he embraced an early opportunity of evincing his zeal for the public service, by volunteering to assist in repelling a large fleet of proas, assembled by the King of Quedah, for the purpose of destroying the infant settlement at Prince of Wales’s Island. His spirited offer being readily accepted, he accordingly joined in two night attacks, April 12 ​and 16, 1791; the result of which so intimidated the invaders that they relinquished their hostile design, and gladly consented to a pacific arrangement.
Mr. Dobbie continued in India until the arrival of Commodore Rainier, who had been appointed to the chief command on that station shortly after the declaration of war between Great Britain and the French republic. He then joined the Suffolk 74 bearing that officer’s broad pendant, and was employed in her boats, cutting off the communication between Fort Oostenburg and the main during the siege of Trincomalee, in Aug. 1795. Whilst thus engaged he assisted at the capture of a sloop, which was brought out from under the enemy’s guns; and distinguished himself by his spirited and zealous conduct on two or three other occasions.
On the day after the surrender of Oostenburg, Mr. Dobbie and another midshipman, the late Captain James Hingston Tuckey, were mainly instrumental in arresting the progress of a fire which broke out in that fort, and which actually reached the outer door of the grand magazine before any effectual measures could be adopted to avert the impending danger. On hearing the alarm given, and seeing the flames burst forth, Messrs. Dobbie and Tuckey, then on their way to the watering place, promptly collected a few men with buckets, &c., hastened to the scene of danger, and by very great exertions kept the fire under, until a sufficient number of soldiers were assembled to extinguish it. Their conduct on this alarming occasion was afterwards highly spoken of in the Madras newspapers; but through some mistake it was stated that they belonged to the Centurion 50, instead of their being described as midshipmen of the Suffolk.
After the reduction of Trincomalee, Commodore Rainier made preparations for subjugating the Dutch spice islands, on which expedition he sailed from Madras, Oct. 16, 1795. On the 25th Dec. in the same year, he advanced Mr. Dobbie to the rank of Lieutenant, and appointed him fifth of the Suffolk.
​A few days subsequent to his promotion, Lieutenant Dobbie was despatched in the launch to board a strange sail in the Straits of Banca. He had not proceeded far when she was discovered to be a brig of war, and the boats of the squadron were consequently sent to his assistance. On arriving within bail, about dusk, a fine breeze suddenly sprang up and enabled the stranger, hitherto becalmed, to distance the boats: Lieutenant Dobbie, however, continued the pursuit, and by great exertions kept pretty close to the brig, receiving her fire and returning it from his swivels, which served to direct the chasing ship and ultimately led to her capture, at 2 A.M., by the Orpheus frigate. She proved to be the Harlingen, Dutch national brig, of 14 guns and 45 men.
On rejoining the Commodore, Lieutenant Dobbie was put in command of the prize; and through his zeal and activity she was found eminently useful during the subsequent progress of the expedition, the navigation of the eastern seas being then very imperfectly known.
Amboyna, as we have already stated, surrendered without resistance on the 16th Feb. 1796. At the taking of Banda Lieutenant Dobbie was placed under the orders of Captain Henry Newcombe, of the Orpheus, to cover the landing of the troops: this service was handsomely performed, and the troops put in possession of a battery from whence the enemy had been driven by the fire of the frigate and her consort. Captain Newcombe mentioned the conduct of the latter in terms of high approbation; and the Commodore, in his despatches, was pleased to recommend Lieutenant Dobbie to the notice of the Admiralty, “for his great merit, and the gallant manner in which he followed the Orpheus.”
On the day following the capture of Banda, the Harlingen was purchased into the service, named the Amboyna, and commissioned by Lieutenant Dobbie, who received orders to fit her out immediately, in order to convey Captain (now Rear-Admiral) Lambert with the Commodore’s despatches to England; these were actually closed, and the brig unmoored, ​when the signal post announced a sail coming from Amboyna. The intelligence she brought proved of an unfavorable nature, the natives having risen in insurrection and committed many excesses. Under these circumstances the Commodore gave up his intention of sending the despatches direct to England, and Captain Newcombe carried them in the Orpheus to Sir George Keith Elphinstone, at Madras.
Lieutenant Dobbie was subsequently ordered to convoy a ship with a valuable cargo of spices to China, and to procure there a supply of stores and provisions for the squadron and garrisons at the Moluccas. On this occasion he acquitted himself so much to the satisfaction of the commander-in-chief as to receive the testimony of his approbation in public orders. Lieutenant Dobbie being in bad health when ordered on the above service, the present Captain Arthur Farquhar, C.B. (who had accompanied him in pursuit of the Harlingen) was appointed to serve under him as a supernumerary Lieutenant. On their arrival at Macao it was found necessary to heave the Amboyna down, she having got aground in the Sooloo Seas; and therefore when Lieutenant Dobbie went up to Whampoa he left his friend in the Typa to superintend that service. Whilst in the act of heaving down, the brig was suddenly attacked by a strong party of Ladrones, who expected to carry her by surprise; but fortunately Mr. Farquhar was on his guard, and the pirates took to flight after receiving a severe chastisement for their audacity.
In Dec. 1796, we find Lieutenant Dobbie again serving on ​board the Suffolk, under the flag of Rear-Admiral Rainier. The following account of a mutiny which subsequently took place on board that ship, is contained in a letter from one of her officers to his friends in England, dated off Point de Galle, Jan. 23, 1798:
“On the 15th of this month, a very serious mutiny broke out on board this ship, then at Colombo. The sailors, in a body, required the redress of what they called grievances, but which were in reality the most insolent demands: the Admiral spoke to them on the folly of their conduct, and shewed them that they possessed every indulgence which was granted to the ships in England; but this not satisfying them, they imitated the conduct of the mutineers at home, ascended the rigging, and huzzaed defiance; at the same time attempting to point 2 guns at us. The officers instantly pushed forward to seize the ringleaders, and secured one of them; the rest forced themselves below. We armed immediately, and after much resistance, secured ten of them in the middle of the whole crew. The 16th, 17th, and 18th, the officers kept constantly to their arms, night and day; when they found that we were prepared to defend the ship with our lives, they were too much intimidated to attempt any thing further, and quietly submitted. Had we deliberated a moment, all would have been lost; the guns on the forecastle would have swept the quarter-deck; they would have had time to organize the mutiny, and must have got the better of us; the officers being only 30 in number, whilst the ship’s company is 550. The crews of the Arrogant and Carysfort, the only ships with us, were disorderly at the same time, but returned to their duty without coercion.”
In another letter from the same officer, dated off Tellicherry, April 10, 1798, we find the following passage:
“We have since been perfectly quiet; but, I am sorry to say, we are not yet free from doubts of our people’s sincerity: we are therefore obliged to be at all times prepared for the worst. You will no doubt deem it a disagreeable piece of duty to be always armed with loaded pistols; but as they insure our safety, and will enable us at all times to strike the first blow, they are indispensably necessary. We have one great comfort, in possessing but one opinion of the proper conduct to be pursued in case of another disturbance;– to sell the ship as dearly as we can, and to support our authority at the risk of our lives, is the unanimous resolve. This the refractory sailors know, and they are intimidated by it; if the 70 marines we have on board do their duty, there is no fear but that we shall make of the mutineers a severe example to future times.”
The minds of the seamen belonging to the East India squadron appear to have continued in a state of ferment until intelligence was received of Duncan’s glorious victory off ​Camperdown, to commemorate which Rear-Admiral Rainier granted a full pardon to all the ringleaders of the late mutiny on board his flag-ship, one of whom had been capitally convicted, several sentenced to severe corporal punishment, and others to long imprisonment. This act of clemency greatly endeared him to the squadron, and it was followed by the re-establishment of good order in every ship under his orders.
In Aug. 1798, Lieutenant Dobbie was appointed first of the Centurion 50, commanded by his patron’s nephew, the late Rear Admiral John Sprat Rainier.
An expedition against Manilla was at this time in contemplation, but obliged to be given up in consequence of the invasion of Egypt by General Buonaparte, and an overland despatch having reached the commander-in-chief, acquainting him that the enemy had brought the frames of several ships of war from Europe, with the intention of setting them up at Suez. On the arrival of this intelligence the Centurion was sent from Bombay to Mocha, where she found the Albatross brig, with which vessel she proceeded to Suez; and these, if we mistake not, were the two first British men of war that had ever visited the head of the Red Sea. During his continuance on that station, including the whole of the year 1799, Lieutenant Dobbie surveyed the roads of Jeddah and Cossire, Jaffatine harbour, and various other anchorages, his plans of which proved very useful to the expedition afterwards sent from India under the command of the late Sir David Baird and Rear-Admiral Blanket.
In the summer of 1800, the Centurion and three frigates were sent to blockade the port of Batavia and intercept the trade coming from the other Dutch settlements in Java. On the 23d Aug., this squadron took possession of the arsenal at Onrust, captured five armed vessels, and destroyed twenty-two sail of merchantmen.
One of the above prizes, a brig pierced for 16 guns, and just launched, was immediately afterwards manned, armed, and equipped, by order of Captain Ball, the senior officer, who ​named her the Admiral Rainier, and placed her under the command of Lieutenant Dobbie, whose activity during the blockade gave great annoyance to the enemy. On one occasion he was sent up the Carawang river, with seven armed boats of the squadron, to destroy a depot of grain; which he fully accomplished after a contest of two hours with eight proas stationed there to protect the public stores. Five of these vessels were either sunk or burnt; the others he carried off, together with the commandant’s yacht, and three large proas laden with coffee; all the public storer , &c. were likewise totally destroyed. On this service he was most gallantly supported by Lieutenant Joseph Corbyn of the Sybille, and Messrs. William Richard Smith and Robert Watts, of the Daedalus and Centurion: the latter gentleman was very badly wounded. On rejoining the squadron. Captain Ball was pleased to express his entire approbation of Lieutenant Dobbie’s conduct.
The Centurion and her consorts remained at anchor off Onrust until recalled at the request of the Governor-General of India, who had undertaken the Mahratta war, to the great disappointment of Vice-Admiral Rainier, that officer having received instructions from the Admiralty to prepare for an attack on Java. Whilst there a favorable negociation was entered into with the native princes of that island; and by the utmost vigilance the squadron was kept from the contagion of the endemic fever, so fatal to Europeans. At length, however, some soldiers of the 12th regiment breaking into a store and obtaining liquor, the disorder commenced with such destructive violence, that the ships when about to depart had scarcely strength to weigh their anchors. At this period Lieutenant Dobbie was ordered to resume his station as first of the Centurion.
In 1802, hostilities having ceased inconsequence of the treaty of Amiens, Vice-Admiral Rainier hoisted his flag on board the Centurion, intending to return home in that ship with the last division of the India fleet; but on the 4th Dec. she narrowly ​escaped foundering in a violent hurricane between Ceylon and Madras, and she sustained so much damage as to render her unfit for the voyage:– her masts went over the sides although not a stitch of canvas was set; her guns were obliged to be thrown overboard; and it was only by the greatest exertions that she could be kept afloat till the gale broke, she having at one time no less than 8 feet water in the hold: fortunately the dreadful tempest subsided as suddenly as it came on, after raging only a few hours. Lieutenant Dobbie, on this occasion, lost every thing he possessed but the cloathes on his back, by a sea pooping the ship and completely clearing his cabin!
In consequence of this disaster, the Centurion proceeded from Madras to Bombay, for the purpose of being docked and new masted. On her arrival there, the Governor requested Vice-Admiral Rainier to send a force against the northern pirates on the Guzzurat coast, who had lately committed great depredations on the trade of that part of India. Captain James Giles Vashon, of the Fox frigate, was accordingly sent on that service, having under his orders the Teignmouth and Ternate brigs, each mounting 18 guns, anr one armed pattamar. The brigs belonged to the East India Company, but were manned from the Arrogant 74, and commanded, the former by the acting Captain of that ship, and the latter by Lieutenant Dobbie.
On the 26th Feb. 1803, this little armament arrived off Baite Island, the principal rendezvous of the pirates. During that and the following day Captain Vashon and the subject of this memoir employed themselves sounding to find a passage into the harbour. On the 28th, the brigs and pattamar sailed in, Lieutenant Dobbie leading, and anchored within 400 yards of the fort, which they soon silenced, together with three other small batteries. This service being performed, a landing was effected under the personal directions of Captain Vashon, who succeeded in burning twenty-two armed pattamars which had been hauled on shore. At high water the next day seven more vessels of the same description and one brig were also ​destroyed close to the walls of the fort, under a very heavy fire. This service was most handsomely performed, with the loss of only 1 killed and 13 wounded: among the latter was Mr. (now Captain) Peter Rainier, who had volunteered to accompany Lieutenant Dobbie.
It would have been fortunate for the British, had their operations terminated here; but, unluckily, the commodore deemed it practicable to storm the fort, and accordingly landed again for that purpose, at the head of 220 seamen and marines, with two field-pieces; the different divisions commanded by Lieutenants Dobbie, Anderson, Davies, Flint, and Collier. This daring attempt was made on the 19th Mar., and ended in the discomfiture of the assailants, who were obliged to retreat with the loss of 40 men killed and wounded. The two brigs having joined in the attack, were likewise much cut up, particularly the Teignmouth, which vessel had unfortunately grounded end on to the fort.
Among the severely wounded on this occasion were Lieutenants Dobbie and Davies, the former of whom received a musket-ball in the breast, but which was happily extracted from under the shoulder bone. Captain Vashon was also wounded in a similar manner; and to his misfortune the ball could not be removed, in consequence of which his death was ultimately hastened.
After repairing the Ternate’s damages, Lieutenant Dobbie returned to Bombay with Captain Vashon’s despatches and the wounded men of the squadron. On his arrival he found that Vice-Admiral Rainier had promoted him, during his absence, to the rank of Commander, and appointed him pro tempore, to the Wilhelmina frigate, in which ship he continued till May 1803, when he resigned her to the late gallant Captain ​Henry Lambert, and succeeded that officer as Governor of the Naval Hospital at Madras. We should here observe, that the zealous conduct of Captain Vashon’s detachment during the late expedition was acknowledged in warm terms by the Governor and Council of Bombay.
About this period, accounts were received in India of the angry discussions between Great Britain and France, respecting Malta, &c., and that a garrison for Pondicherry would leave Brest at a certain time. Vice-Admiral Rainier, in consequence of this intelligence, hastened round from Bombay to the Coromandel coast, where he arrived in time to prevent the French troops under General de Caen from obtaining possession of that fortress, which he would not allow to be delivered up until farther advices came from Europe. Much chagrined at their disappointment, the General and his naval colleague, Mons. Linois, returned to the Isle of France, where they received official despatches from the First Consul, acquainting them that hostilities had recommenced, and containing instructions for their guidance. In conformity thereto, Rear-Admiral Linois immediately sailed for the Eastern Seas and made an attack on Bencoolen, in the island of Sumatra, where he burnt three store-houses filled with spice, rice, and opium, captured three valuable prizes, and caused the destruction of eight other merchant vessels.
The French Admiral’s proceedings were reported at Madras in Feb. 1804, and it was naturally supposed that his ultimate object was to intercept the homeward bound China fleet. The Albion, Sceptre, and Russel, third rates, had recently arrived from England, and Captain Ferrier, the senior officer, was extremely anxious to go in pursuit of the enemy; but experienced some little difficulty, there being no person on board either of the ships at all acquainted with the intricate navigation of the Eastern Seas. To obviate this difficulty. Captain Dobbie immediately volunteered his services which were thankfully accepted, and the Albion and Sceptre sailed the same night, proceeding to the straits of Malacca, where they fell in with the valuable fleet under Captain Dance, ten days ​after that gentleman’s rencontre with Linois, the particulars of which will be given in another part of this work. The pursuit of the French squadron being abandoned by Captain Ferrier, in order to afford protection to a fleet of such great national importance, Captain Dobbie returned to Madras in a country ship, and resumed the government of the naval hospital, after an absence of two months.
Previous to Vice-Admiral Rainier’s departure from India, in Mar. 1805, he appointed the subject of this memoir to the Arrogant, guard-ship and sheer-hulk at Bombay, where the Fox was at that time undergoing a thorough repair. On Captain Dobbie’s arrival there, he was ordered by Sir Edward Pellew, the new Commander-in-chief, to superintend the repairs of that frigate, as also her subsequent equipment; and for the latter purpose 100 sailors, impressed from a fleet of Indiamen, were placed under his command. On the 26th Sept. she was hauled out of dock and commissioned by him, agreeable to an order sent by Sir Edward from Madras, directing him to act as captain of her.
A few days afterwards accounts arrived of the noted French privateer Bellone being on the coast. Captain Dobbie immediately applied to the government for a party of soldiers to do duty as marines, and offered to go in pursuit of the enemy. After some delay his request was complied with, and a party of native militia, commanded by civilians in the Company’s service (volunteers on this occasion), embarked on board the Fox. He also transferred the warrant officers and one master’s-mate of the Arrogant to his frigate; and thus manned, without one commissioned officer, he put to sea on the 14th Oct. and continued cruising on the Malabar coast till the end of Nov., without meeting the object of his search, but at the same time feeling a grateful conviction that the enemy had been prevented by his zeal and activity from committing any further depredations in that quarter. He had likewise the ​satisfaction of finding that his conduct was approved by the commander-in-chief, whom he had apprised of his intended proceedings. The following is an extract from a letter addressed to him by Sir Edward Pellew, dated at Trincomalee, Nov. 4, 1805:
“I have much satisfaction in expressing my entire approbation of the manner in which you have conducted that part of the public service committed to your charge, as well as the zeal and attention you have shown to those objects to which your letter bears reference.”
On his return from the above cruise, Captain Dobbie was entrusted by the Bombay government with the command of a flotilla fitted out to chastise the same piratical powers he had been employed against in Feb. and Mar. 1803. The force placed under his orders consisted of one mortar-vessel, two schooners, and twelve pattamars, with which he sailed on the 1st Dec, the Fox still without any commissioned officers, and fully succeeded in all the objects of the expedition, but not before he had bombarded the fortified town of Dwarka, set it twice on fire, and laid the greater part in ruins. Among the property rescued by him on this occasion was a valuable cargo of elephants’ teeth, rhinoceros’ horns, hides, &c. and a sum of 12,600 rupees paid by the Rajah of Dwarka as compensation for three vessels which had been taken and plundered by his lawless dependants. We here subjoin the copy of a letter which was afterwards transmitted to Captain Dobbie through Sir Edward Pellew:
“Bombay Castle, Jan. 12, 1806.
“Sir,– In acknowledging the receipt of your letters dated the 19th and 27th Dec, and 10th instant I am directed to signify to you that the Governor in council has great satisfaction in expressing his entire approbation of your proceedings during your late expedition against the pirates of Baite, Dwarka, &c., the salutary impression of which on these depredators cannot fail to be productive of material advantage to the general trade and navigation on this side of India. I have the honor to be, &c.
(Signed)“F. Warden, Sec. to Govt.”
“To Captain W. H. Dobbie, R.N.”
By some extraordinary accident, the Admiralty commission for the Fox did not reach Captain Dobbie during his continuance under Sir Edward Pellew’s command. Captain the Hon. A. Maitland being appointed by their Lordships to command the Arrogant, he resigned her to that officer in the spring of 1807, took his final departure from India in Aug. following, and landed at Portsmouth on the 1st Jan. 1808, after an absence of eighteen years from his native country.
In the summer of 1809, Captain Double was appointed pro ​tempore to the Pallas frigate, and proceeded in her to Walcheren with the grand expedition under Lord Chatham and Sir Richard J. Strachan, the latter of whom reported him as having been “particularly attentive to the public service” during the short time that elapsed previous to his being superseded by Captain G. F. Seymour, for whom he had been acting.
Captain Dobbie’s next appointment was, in the spring of 1814, to the Ethalion 42, in which frigate he served on the coast of Ireland, until ordered to be paid off in Sept. 1815. On the 15th Jan. in the following year, he was appointed to the Pactolus 46, fitting for the Halifax station, from whence he returned previous to the expiration of the usual term of service in peace, the dry rot having rendered his ship unserviceable. She was put out of commission in Aug. 1817, and Captain Dobbie has not since been professionally employed. We have already intimated that he holds a commission of the peace, and a Deputy Lieutenancy for the county of Essex.
The officer of whose long and arduous services we have now given an outline, married, Aug. 8, 1808, Agatha Shedden, third daughter of Bartlet Goodrich, of Saling Grove, Essex, Esq. and has a family of eleven sons and daughters. His only brother, George Dobbie, Esq. was educated for the medical profession, and joined the 75th regiment, in 1793. He served about eighteen months in India, and there fell a victim to the climate.
Agents.– Messrs. Goode and Clarke.
* ↑ One of Mr. Staple’s sons also died in the naval service.
* ↑ See Vol. I., note, at p. 413.
* ↑ See Vol. II. Part I. note at p. 74 et seq.
* ↑ See id., note at p. 245.
* ↑ See Vol. II. Part II., note † at p. 930.
* ↑ The rebellion in Amboyna was raised by the Mahometan natives, witk the intention, as they affirmed, of extirpating the Dutch, whose tyranny they had long impatiently groaned under; and this they would have fully accomplished had Commodore Rainier not undertaken Mynheer’s defence and protection. During the months of April and May 1796, the insurgents remained in arms, and gave the British some trouble, carrying devastation to the very walls of the fort, burning the houses, and murdering every Dutchman they met. At length, however, a few of their chiefs were seized, and immediately executed in their own villages, in terrorem. This measure had the desired effect, and tranquillity was soon completely restored in the island.
* ↑ See Memoir of Captain Francis Mason, C.B.
* ↑ Daedalus 32, Captain Henry Lidgbird Ball; Braave 40, Captain Thomas Alexander, and Sybille 40, Captain Charles Adam.
* ↑ The loss sustained by Lieutenant Dobbie’s little flotilla was much less than might have been expected from the opposition he met with – it consisted of only 2 killed and 6 wounded.
* ↑ Vice-Admiral Rainier was then on shore at Madras.
* ↑ Mr. Edward Collier, acting Lieutenant of the Arrogant, but lent to the Teignmouth. He had been recently promoted from the Centurion for his great exertions during the late hurricane. His name appears among the Post-Captains of 1814.
* ↑ The fort was situated about 30 yards above high water mark; its walls were 40 feet high, and appeared well built of stone and chunam. The island of Baite at that time maintained about 2000 fighting men.
* ↑ See Captain Robert Meyrick Fowler.
* ↑ The Bellone was captured in July 1806, by the Powerful 74;– see Vol. I. p. 642. She was afterwards the Blanche, a 28-gun frigate, in H.M. navy.
* ↑ Dwarka, in which town the famous temple of Jigatt is situated, maintained about 1500 armed men.
* ↑ See Nav. Chron. Vol. XVI, pp. 143–149.
* ↑ The Court of Directors of the Hon.E.I. Company presented Captain Dobbie with 100 guineas for the purchase of a piece of plate, as an acknowledgment of their sense of his services in the above expedition. He also received 250l. from the Patriotic Fund, in consequence of his being so badly wounded at Baite in Mar. 1803.