A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Carroll, William Fairbrother
CARROLL, C.B. (Captain, 1813. f-p., 26; h-p., 26.)
William Fairbrother Carroll, born 28 Jan. 1784, at Glencarrig, co. Wicklow, is son of Daniel Carroll, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, of Uskane, co. Tipperary; brother of Lieut.-Colonel Carroll, of the 6th Portuguese Regt., who died from fatigue at the battle of Toulouse, in 1814, and of Lieut. Carroll, R.M.A., who was aide-de-camp to Lieut.-General Doyle, and lost his life at the siege of Cadiz; and brother-in-law of Lieut.-General Nelson, Colonel Stirke, and Lieut.-Colonel Milling.
This officer entered the Navy, 5 Dec. 1795, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Diamond 38, Capt. Sir Wm. Sidney Smith, with whom, after contributing to the destruction of a convoy at Herqui, he was taken prisoner in the river Seine 18 April, 1796. On his release from captivity, in Aug. 1797, he joined, as Midshipman, the Syren 32, Capt. Thos. Le Marchant Gosselin, in which ship we find him assisting at the capture of Surinam in Aug. 1799, and afterwards very severely wounded while attacking a French vessel, in July, 1800. On the death, towards the close of 1801, of Lord Hugh Seymour, Commander-in-Chief at Jamaica, to whose flag-ship, the Sans Pareil 80, he had been removed, Mr. Carroll came home with his Lordship’s remains, in the Sting schooner. He then proceeded to the East Indies in the St. Fiorenzo 36, Capt. Joseph Bingham, and was there appointed, 8 Aug. 1803, Acting-Lieutenant of the Centurion 50, Capt. Jas. Lind, in whose valorous defence of his ship, when attacked and furiously cannonaded for nearly two hours in Vizagapatam Road by the French 80-gun ship Marengo and Atalante and Semillante frigates, 18 Sept. 1804, he particularly distinguished himself by his gallantry and spirit.[1] Mr. Carroll’s promotion having been confirmed by the Admiralty on 15 of the previous May, he was next in succession appointed, 18 April, 1805, to the Astrea 32, Capt. Jas. Carthew, in the North Sea; and, 11 Oct. 1805, to the Pompée 74, as Flag-Lieutenant to his old Captain, then Rear-Admiral Sir W. S. Smith. In the month of May, 1806, he again rendered himself conspicuous by his extreme exertions at the storming of the Island of Capri, and at the bringing off of two long 36-pounders from an enemy’s vessel lying on the beach at Scalea;[2] and, while attending the expedition to the Dardanells in Feb. 1807, he effectually destroyed a redoubt of 31 guns on Point Pesquies, as likewise the guns of a Turkish 64.[3] During the operations against Copenhagen in Aug. and Sept. 1807, Mr. Carroll, then under the orders of Vice-Admiral Hon. Henry Edwin Stanhope, commanded an armed launch employed in protecting the left wing of the army from the enemy’s flotilla, and was afterwards most admirably instrumental in extinguishing the fire which broke out in the dock-yard. His next appointments were – 3 June, 1808, to the Foudroyant 80, again as Flag-Lieutenant to Sir W. S. Smith, on the Brazilian station – 24 April, 1809, as Senior, to the Achille 74, Capt. Sir Rich. King, part of the force attached to the ensuing expedition against Flushing – and, in Oct. 1810, to the Gibraltar flotilla. In the unfortunate attack which presently took place on the castle of Frangerola he acquired the official notice of Lord Blayney for his zeal in command of one of the gunboats; and, on being ordered to Cadiz, he effectively co-operated in the defence of that place until the day after the battle of Barrosa, when his boat was sunk before Catalina, by which calamity he suffered a heavy pecuniary loss.[4] On 4 March, 1811, Lieut. Carroll was advanced to the rank of Commander, and in June following appointed to succeed Capt. Fellowes in the chief command of the whole Cadiz flotilla. In Dec. of the same year he was sent to co-operate in the defence of Tarifa; after which he resumed his former station off Cadiz, where he continued until the siege was raised, in Aug. 1812. He then assumed command of the Volcano bomb, on the coast of Catalonia, and at the arduous but ultimately successful investment, in June, 1813, of the fort of St. Philippe in the Col de Balaguer, mounting 12 pieces of ordnance, with a garrison of 101 officers and men, he proved “the admiration of everybody” by his intrepid support, although seriously and lastingly injured from the exploding of a shell, of the commanding oificer, Capt., now Vice-Admiral Sir Chas. Adam.[5] On 6 Dec. 1813, Capt. Carroll was promoted to Post-rank, and on 10 of the same month he joined the Revenge 74, as Flag-Captain to Sir John Gore, with whom he partook of different operations in the Adriatic, including the blockade of Venice, until transferred, 5 June, 1814, to the Cyrus 20, which ship he appears to have commanded in the Mediterranean, on the coast of La Vendée, during the war of 100 days, and on the Irish station, until Sept. 1818. He was nominated a C.B. 4 June, 1815, and was subsequently employed, from 27 Aug. 1825, until 1830, chiefly as Flag-Captain to Rear-Admiral Wm. Hall Gage, in the Warspite 76, Boadicea 46, and Java 52, on the East India station. He has not since been afloat.
Capt. Carroll, who is now at the head of the Bath police, has been 67 times in action with the enemy, has aided at the capture of 19 sail of the line, 18 frigates, and a vast number of smaller vessels, has borne a part also in two general engagements, has been twice wounded and once sunk, and has been eight times gazetted, besides being ofiicially mentioned on two occasions in the despatches of the Duke of Wellington. He married, 3 Aug. 1813, Martha Milligen, eldest daughter of the late Vice-Admiral Sir Rich. Dacres, G.C.H., sister of Capt. Sidney Colpoys Dacres, R.N., and cousin of Rear-Admiral J. R. Dacres. By that lady he has had issue two sons, of whom the eldest, Wm. Dacres, died a Lieutenant, R.N., and seven daughters. Agent – J. Hinxman.