A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Buller, Thomas Wentworth
BULLER. (Commander, 1817. f-p., 11; h-p., 30.)
Thomas Wentworth Buller is second son of the late Jas. Buller, Esq., of Downes and Shillingham, upwards of 20 years M.P. for Exeter, by Anne, daughter of the Right Rev. Wm. Buller, Bishop of Exeter; brother of the present Jas. Wentworth Buller, Esq., of Downes, Deputy Lieutenant for Devonshire, and formerly representative in Parliament for Exeter; nephew of the late Admiral Sir John Thos. Duckworth, Bart., G.C.B.; and cousin both of the late Vice-Admiral Sir Edw. Buller, Bart.,[1] and of the present Lieut.-General Fred. Buller.
This officer entered the Navy, 7 June, 1806, in a subordinate capacity, on board La Résolue, Lieut. Commander Nicolas, lying at Plymouth, but soon afterwards became Midshipman of the Malta 84, Capt. Edw. Buller, employed off Cadiz. In June, 1807, he removed to the Euryalus 36, Capt. Geo. Heneage Lawrence Dundas, under whom he escorted several thousand troops, commanded by the late Sir John Moore, from Gibraltar to England – thence conveyed to Gottenborg and back the Duke of Angouleme and other members of the French Royal Family – attended the expedition to the Walcheren in Aug. 1809 – and, on 18 Nov. following, assisted in capturing L’Etoile privateer, of 14 guns and 48 men. From Jan. 1810, until Oct. 1812, Mr. Buller next served in the Mediterranean, on board the Tigre 74, Capt. Benj. Hallowell, and again in the Malta, bearing the flag of the same officer. He was then transferred to the Antelope 50, flagship at Portsmouth of Sir John Thos. Duckworth; and, on 8 Dec. in the latter year, he was advanced to the rank of Lieutenant. His subsequent appointments were – 5 Feb. 1813, to the Indus 74, Capt. Wm. Hall Gage, employed in the North Sea – 16 April, 1814, to the Diomede troop-ship, Capt. Chas. Montagu Fabian, in which he sailed for America, where, in Jan. 1815, he joined the Euryalus 36, Capt. Chas. Napier – and, 17 June, 1815, to the Impregnable 104, as Flag-Lieutenant to his uncle. Sir J. T. Duckworth, then Port-Admiral at Plymouth. He was advanced to his present rank 19 April, 1817, and has since been on half-pay.
Commander Buller married, 24 Oct. 1827, Ann, only daughter of the late Edw. Divett, Esq., of Bystock, co. Devon, by whom he has issue.
- ↑ Sir Edward Buller was born 24 Dec. 1764, and entered the Navy at the age of twelve. He served as midshipman of the Courageuxx in the engagement between Keppel and D’Orvilliers, 27 July, 1778; was on board the Sceptre in most of Sir Edward Hughes’ actions with M. de Suffrein, in one of which he was slightly wounded; and commanded the Chaser 14, in the attack on Cuddalore in Jane, 1783 – the Crescent 36, at the capture of a Dutch squadron in Saldanha Bay in Aug. 1796 – and, with particular distinction, the Malta 84, in Sir Robert Calder’s action. He was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral in 1808, raised to the dignity of a Baronet in the course of the same year, and appointed in 1809-12 to a command at Plymouth and in the Channel Fleet. He died a Vice-Admiral of the Red in 1824.