A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Beadon, George
BEADON. (Commander, 1841. f-p., 12; h-p., 10.)
George Beadon, born 25 Feb. 1810, is the third son of Wm. Beadon, Esq.,[1] of Gotten House, co. Somerset, in the commission of the peace for that shire, by Martha Anna, only daughter and heir of the late John Hammett, Esq., Lieut. R.N., niece of the late Sir Benj. Hammett, Kt., (the great benefactor of Taunton, of whose interests he was for many years the constant advocate in Parliament, as was likewise his eldest son,) and representative, through her mother, of the Monkton branch of the ancient family of Musgrave, of Charlton Musgrave, in the same county.
This officer entered the Navy, 20 Aug. 1825, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Prince Regent 120, Capts. Wm. Henry Webley Parry and Constantine Rich. Moorsom, bearing the flag at the Nore of Sir Robt. Moorsom. He next joined the Victory 104, guard-ship at Portsmouth, Capt. Chas. Inglis; served, as Midshipman, from 20 Aug. 1826, until the date of his passing, 8 Sept. 1831, in the Heron 18, commanded by various Captains, and Curlew 10, Capts. Geo. Woollcombe and Henry Dundas Trotter, on the South American and Cape of Good Hope stations; and then joined the Jaseur 18, Capts. Fras. Harding and Archibald Sinclair, in which he returned home, and was paid off in Oct. 1832. On 23 Oct. 1833, Mr. Beadon was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant; and, on 9 Sept. 1836, after an employment of two months in the Coast Guard, was appointed to the Conway 28, Capt. Chas. Ramsay Drinkwater Bethune, with whom he proceeded to New South Wales and thence to India and China. In the course of 1840-41, he took an active part in the various operations of the Chinese war, and in Sept. of the former year had the honour, while detached in command of the Conway’s cutter, of being the first to discover the entrance of the Tang-tse-Kiang river, before leaving the shores of which we find him avenging in a very condign manner an insult offered by the natives to some of his party. Not long afterwards, being sent on shore in charge of a strong foraging expedition, he again came into hostile collision with the enemy, and, in the affray, had 1 man mortally wounded, and Mr. Harvey, a midshipman of great promise, so severely, that he ultimately died from the effects of the injuries he received. The assailants had 5 killed and several wounded. On another occasion, in April, 1841, when returning in a junk to Whampoa, after delivering letters at Macao for Sir Le Fleming Senhouse, Mr. Beadon, with all his crew, was swamped during a violent storm off the island of Lin-tin, but, after struggling with destruction for many hours, and when in the last moment of despair, was most providentially saved. At the capture, in May following, of the fortress of Taihong-tow, this officer was the first to enter it. He also commanded, with the highest credit to himself, the Conway’s boats during the whole of the detached operations against Canton and its vicinity,[2] and was Senior of the Conway at a most harassing period of the war, when, indeed, the greater part of the ship’s company was on the sick list. He returned to England with a large portion of the Chinese ransom, and was paid off in Jan. 1842, previously to which period, 8 June, 1841, he had been advanced to his present rank. He has since been on half-pay.
Commander Beadon, who has obtained a certificate of proficiency in the art of steam navigation, was presented, in 1835, by the Duke of Sussex, with the thanks of the Society of Arts for his invention of a Double Hook, and, in 1843, with a Gold Medal, by Prince Albert, for an improved Life Buoy, which has been directed by Her Majesty to be attached to the Royal Yacht. He married, 17 Oct. 1833, Sarah, daughter of Wm. Oliver, Esq., of Hope Comer, near Taunton, co. Somerset, and by that lady has issue three children. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
- ↑ The Beadons have been for generations interwoven with many of the first families of Somerset and the neighbouring counties, of whom it may be sufficient here to enumerate the Spurways, of Spurway; the Radfords, of Oakford; the Jolliffes, of Kelmersden, &c. Sir Robert de Beadin, from whom the present Beadons collaterally descend, was thrice high-sheriff of Devon, temp. Edw. II. Gotten House is an ancient seat of the Musgraves, and was acquired by Commander Beadon’s father on his marriage.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1841, pp. 1503, 1505, 2512.