A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Bignell, George
BIGNELL. (Commander, 1815. f-p.,19; h-p., 33.)
George Bignell, born 1 Dec. 1786, is son of the late John Bignell, Esq., upwards of 43 years a Purser, R.N.; and a relative of Commander E. H. Kenney, R.N., and of Dr. Jas. Anderson (b), R.N., Deputy Medical Inspector of Haslar Hospital. This officer entered the Navy, 1 June, 1795, as Midshipman, on board the Andromeda 32, Capt. Wm. Taylor, on the Halifax station, where, and in the Channel, he served with the same officer, latterly in the Magnanime 44, until 1800. In March, 1801, after an intermediate attachment to the Assistance 50, Capt. Robt. Hall, he became Acting-Lieutenant of the London 98, Capt. Robt. Waller Otway, and on the occasion of the battle of Copenhagen, 2 April following, commanded a flat-bottomed boat alongside the Elephant, Lord Nelson’s flag-ship, and was instrumental to the after-destruction of the Danish shipping. He continued to serve in the London, to which ship he was confirmed on 10 Sept. in the same year, until the peace; and was subsequently appointed – 11 April, 1803, to the Spartiate 74, Capt. Sir Eras. Laforey, under whom he fought at Trafalgar, was employed in guarding the coast of Sicily and in landing troops in the Bay of Naples, and co-operated in the reduction of the islands of Ischia and Procida – 26 Dec. 1809, to the Formidable 98, Capt. Jas. Nicoll Morris, stationed in the Baltic and off Lisbon – and, 23 June, 1812, to the Dover troop-ship, Capt. Aug. Vere Drury, in the boats of which he retook a schooner on the banks of Newfoundland, and then proceeded to Quebec. He afterwards volunteered his services on the Canadian Lakes, and on 10 Sept. 1813, while in command of the Hunter brig, of 10 guns, participated, with a flotilla under the orders of Commodore Robt. Heriot Barclay, and exhibited the greatest intrepidity, in a hard-fought and disastrous engagement with a superior American force on Lake Erie, under Commodore Perry.[1] He had the misfortune on that occasion to be very severely wounded; and, being taken prisoner in common with the rest of the British, was detained, as a hostage for some deserters who had been sent to England to be tried for their lives, until July, 1814. He attained his present rank 19 Sept. 1815, but has not since been employed.
Commander Bignell enjoys a pension of 150l., awarded him for his wounds, 16 Feb. 1816. He married, 25 May, 1816, Miss Charlotte Patch, and by that lady has issue six children.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1814, pp. 331-2.