The Sun.
London, England, 1856-04-03 00:00:00

April, 1795, of the French corvette Le Jean Bart, And 40
e'en frigates La Gloire and La Gentili° ; took part, June
23 followine,e in Lord Bridport's action with the French
fleet off Ile de Croix, and was present, in April, 1797 in the
mutiny at Spithead. He served subsequently off the port
of Cadiz; and in the conse of the year la,t mentioned and
of 1799 and Isoo be joined the Cerberus, 32, Capts. John
Drew and Jae. Macuatnara, Cambrian, )0, Capt. Hon.
Arthur Kaye Legge, and Endymion, 40, Capt. Philip
. Chas. Durham. In, those ships he cruized with great
activity on the western and Irish stations, in the Chan-
,. el and Bey of Biscay, and on the coast of :Spain. In the
Cerberus he contributed to the capture, among other yes-
se;s, of L'Epervier, of 16 guns and 14 ) men, and Le
Renard, of 18 guns and 189 men ; and on Oct. 20, 1799,
he participated in a very gallant action fought near Cape
Ortega] between that ship and five Spanish frigates, one of
whom was completely beaten. The enemy on this occasion
had a merchant fleet of 80 sail under' their Conioy, pro.
tected also by two brig-corvettes. In the Cambrian Mr.
Symonds accompeeie I the expelition sent under Sir E.
Fellow and M‘j r-GeneralMaitla to cooperate with the
French Royalists an Cul/11311Y ill Quiberon Bay and the
Morbi an. A taining the rank of Hew enant Oct, 14,1K01,
he was eppoihted in that capacity-June 21, 1802, to the
Belleisle, -4, a• pleyed in the blockade of Toulon and in
chasing the French fleet-March 18.:4, to the Revel
Sev. leo, DO, stationed in the Mediterranean, under the
flag of 'Sir R. Bickerton, and, for some time off Coruell3---,
eept. 9, 1 :05, to the Inconstant, 36, Capt. E. S. Dickson,
lying at Portsmouth-Jan. 13, 18 6, as senior to the Scor-
pion, 18, Captains Philip Carteret and Fres. Stanfell-
March 9, 1808, to the command of the Violet, lugger, on
the Guernsey station-Nov. 22 following, again as senior
to the Brilliant, 28, Capt. Thos. Smith, on the coast of
Brazil, whence he returned to England and was paid off in
.Oct., 1809- April 1, 1811, to the San Domino, 74, flag.
ship of Sir A. Strachan, off Flushing-Nov. 2 in the sain•
year, to the Pique, 36, Capt. Hon. A. Maitland, under
whom he served as first lieutenant in the Channel, off
Lisbon, and in the West Indies, until Jan. 1816, and as.
listed in making several captures-and Jan. 1, 1855, in
the capacity last mentioned, to the Royal George, yacht,
Captains Hon. Thos. Bladen Capel and Sir Michael Soy-
mour. In the summer of 1806, Mr. Symonds, then in the
Scorpion, was actively engaged iu the West Indies in
watching the movements of the celebrated French squa-
dron, under Rear-Admiral Willanmez, in which Jerome
Bonaparte had embarked. He aided in the same vessel at
the destruction of several forts on the Spanish main ; and
was in her at the capture, near Scilly, of several famous
privateers, including La Favorite, of 14 guns and 70 men,
Le Bourgainville, of 18 grins and 93 men (taken after a long
chase and a running fight of 45 minutes), La Glaneuse. of
16 guns aid 80 men, and Le Gleneur, of 10 guns and 60
men. From 1819 until appointed, as above, to the Aeyal
George, Lieutenant Symonds filled the situation of magis-
trate and intendant of the police, and captain of the ports,
at Malta ; and on Oct. 4, 1825, he was promoted to the
rank of commander. About this period he was allowed,
natter, we are told, a very unusual and restrictive pen: lty,
to construct a corvette, the Coithenine. To her he wad
appointed Dec. 4, 1826 ; aid so great was the success which
attended him in the different experimental cruizes he made
during the next twelve months, that he was advanced, as a
reward, to post-rank by a commission bearing date Dec. 5,
1827. At the commencement of 1831 Captain Symonds was
enabled, through the munificence of the Duke of Portlan 1,
to build, as an improvement upon the Columbine, the 10-
gun brig Pantaloon ; the triumph of which vessel led to the
construction, under his superintendence, cf the Vernon,
50; Vestal, 2P ; Snake, 16, and others. Oil Juns 9, 1832, he
was offered and accepted the appointment of Surveyor of
the Navy, which he continued to fill until 1847. It is here
worthy of remark that out of 180 vessels of different kinda
built during that period (all of them upon the principle of
the Pantaloon) not one has yet foundered. In June, 1835,
Captain Symonds received a very flattering letter front
Mr. Tufnell, private secretary to the Earl of Minto, then
First Lord of the Admiralty, enclosing an extract from
one addressed to his lordship by Sir Herbert Taylor, of
which the following is a copy :-' His Majesty has ordered
me to state to your lordship that, considering the situation
winch Captain Symonds holds, the able manner in which
ho fills it., and the necessity of upholding him in it, his
Majesty conceives your lordship will concur with him in
the propriety of conferring upon him the honour of knight.
hood, which was given to his predecessor; and his Majesty
wishes you would desire him to attend his levee on Wed-
nesday next for the purpose of receiving it.' On 15th of
the same month Captain Symonds was accordingly invested
with this mark of Royal favour. We may add that he
received the thanks of the Admiralty in July, 1830, for a
Memoir containing Sailing Directions for the Adriatic
Sea ;' and again, in October, 1847, for ' the valuable qua.
lities of his several ships, and for improvements introduced
by him into the navy.' Be was elected a F.R.S., June 4.
1835, and nominated a C. B. on the civil list May 1, 1848."