Volant Vashon Ballard Volant Vashon Ballard CB ( bapt . 4 January 1774 – 12 October 1832 ) was a Rear - Admiral of the Royal Navy . He served as a midshipman with George Vancouver on his voyage to the north - west coast of America . Early career . Christened on 4 January 1774 at Ludlow , Shropshire , he was the second son of Humphrey Ballard and his wife Sarah ( née Vashon ) . Ballard began his Royal Navy career as captain ' s servant to his uncle , Captain ( later Admiral ) James Vashon on in April 1786 . The " Expedition " was the flagship of Commodore ( later Rear - admiral ) Alan Gardner . After four months Ballard moved with Vashon and Gardner to based at Jamaica and it was here that he first met Lieutenant George Vancouver . Ballard ' s next posting was to under Captain Peter Rainier , junior ( whose sister was the second wife of James Vashon ) . Ballard remained on the ship for a year before following Rainier to in June 1790 and eight months later on 28 February 1791 he joined Vancouver ' s expedition . He spent the entire voyage on beginning as an able seaman , then as a midshipman from 1 June 1791 until 1 December 1792 when he transferred to be a clerk before again becoming a midshipman from 1 December 1794 . Command . After the " Discovery " voyage , Ballard passed his lieutenant ' s examination and was immediately commissioned on 6 November 1795 . On 25 December 1798 , while commanding the sloop , on the East India station , Ballard was promoted to captain and transferred to the 28 - gun frigate with which he remained until mid - 1800 . Ballard commanded the 36 - gun fifth rate for two months in mid - 1801 . He then took over command of the 8 - gun " De Kuyter " in December 1801 and sailed her to the West Indies to be based at Antigua from August 1803 to mid - 1804 . For nearly two years , Ballard ' s next command was the 50 - gun before he , in July 1806 , recommissioned " Blonde " a 38 - gun frigate captured from the French in 1782 and initially named " Hebe " . Ballard departed in a convoy to the West Indies on 7 January 1807 , and during that year captured seven French privateer s including " La Dame Villaret " and the " Hortenseiun " in August , the " Hirondelle " and the " Duquesne " ( a former British warship ) , in September and the " Alert " in October . At the end of 1809 , " Blonde " was part of a light squadron off Basseterre in the blockade of Guadaloupe . It is probably as a result of his actions over that period that the merchants of Barbados presented him with a silver - plated tureen , four corner dishes and silver forks . On 18 December 1809 , Commodore Samuel James Ballard ( no relation of Volant ) in assumed charge of the squadron . Two French ships were discovered moored in a strong position in Anse - la - Barque . The " Blonde " was deputed to lead the attack and bore the brunt of the action , which left the enemy frigates in flames . A fuller account of this action can be found in " The Naval History of Great Britain " . The action led to the capture of Guadeloupe and Volant Ballard was honourably mentioned . Two paintings depicting the action were bequeathed by Ballard in his will to his son Edward Humphrey . Ballard ' s last active service was briefly to captain from 1810 to 1811 and after his return to England he married Arabella Sarah Crabb , eldest daughter of James Crabb of Shedfield Lodge , Hampshire and Arabella Sarah Grove Boucher , daughter of Richard Boucher of Corsham , Wiltshire , on 18 September 1811 at Droxford , Hampshire . Family and later life . The Ballards had the following children : Sarah Arabella ( 1812 ) , married Captain later Admiral James Vashon Baker RN , son of Joseph Baker who had also sailed with George Vancouver on the voyage to the Northwest coast of America ; Harriett Vashon ( 1814 ) married Reverend Edward Elton ; Volant Vashon ( 1816 ) married Emily Sarah Spencer Phillips ; James Boucher ( 1817 ) ( became a captain in the Royal Navy in 1868 ) ; Edward Humphrey ( 1819 ) became the Roman Catholic chaplain in the Royal Navy ; and George Frederick ( 1823 ) became a Roman Catholic priest . Ballard was made a Companion of the Bath in 1815 and obtained his flag rank ( rear - admiral ) in May 1825 reaching Rear - Admiral of the Red by seniority before his death at his home in Cavendish Terrace , Walcot near Bath on 12 October 1832 . He was buried at the church of St Saviour , Walcot , Somerset . Notes . a . During the voyage Ballard kept a log now held in The National Archives , London under reference ADM 55 / 29 Discovery , 1 March 1791 - 2 July 1795 .