A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Blair, William Fordyce
BLAIR. (Commander, 1841. f-p., 18; h-p., 11.)
William Fordyce Blair, born in 1807, is eldest surviving son of the late Col. Wm. Blair, of Blair, co. Ayr, M.P. for that shire, by Magdalene, daughter of the late John Fordyce, Esq., of Ayton, co. Berwick, for many years Commissioner of the Woods and Forests; and younger brother of the late Capts. Hamilton Blair and John Chas. Blair, R.N. He is the representative of a family which has been of high standing in the co. Ayr for the last six centuries.
This officer entered the Royal Naval College 5 March, 1818; and embarked, in July, 1820, as Midshipman, on board the Rochfort 80, Capt. Chas. Marsh Schomberg, bearing the flag of Sir Graham Moore on the Mediterranean station, where he shortly afterwards witnessed the taking of Naples by the Austrians, and was present in the Cambrian 46, at Scio and Smyrna, during the Turkish massacre of the Greeks, many of whom were saved in the boats of that frigate. After an attachment of a few months to the Diamond 46, Capt. Lord Napier, he served during part of the Burmese war on board the Liffey 50, Capt. Thos. Coe; and, on his subsequent transference to the Java 52, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Hall Gage, he appears to have been much employed in boat operations against the Malay pirates. Having passed his examination in Sept. 1826, he became successively Mate, in Oct. 1827, and March, 1828, of the Tamar 26, Capt. Jas. John Gordon Bremer, and Blonde 46, Capt. Edmund Lyons. He took part, about the latter period, in the blockade of Navarin, and in the following Oct. was employed on shore in constructing batteries, and otherwise co-operating with the French army during the siege of Morea Castle. Being promoted to a Lieutenancy, 4 March, 1829, in the Wasp 18, Capt. Thos. Edw. Hoste, Mr. Blair was next for some time occupied in watching the Russian fleet at the mouth of the Dardanells; after which, he united with the French in their operations against Algiers, and was further active in the extirpation of piracy from the Archipelago. While subsequently attached, from 1 Dec. 1830, until May, 1835, to the Britannia 120, bearing the flag of Sir Pulteney Malcolm, we find him variously employed in the Mediterranean in reference to the affairs of Greece and Turkey, and off Lisbon during the Pedro and Miguel disputes – independently of a short time spent in blockading the Dutch coast. He was reappointed, on 5 April, 1836, to the Britannia, as Flag-Lieutenant, pro tem, to Sir Philip Durham at Portsmouth, but was superseded in March, 1837, and has since been on half-pay. His last commission bears date 23 Nov. 1841.
Commander Blair is a Magistrate and Deputy-Lieutenant for co. Ayr. He married, 22 July, 1840, Caroline Isabella, youngest daughter of the late John Sprot, Esq., of London, by whom he has issue two daughters. Agents – Goode and Lawrence.