A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Clark, William
CLARK. (Commander, 1840. f-p., 21; h-p., 16.)
William Clark, born 23 Nov. 1796, at Torwoodlee, co. Selkirk, is son of the late Capt. Wm. Clark, R.N., who commanded the Victorious 74, at the reduction of the Cape of Good Hope in 1795, and was wounded in the course of a long and desperate conflict, fought 9 Sept. 1796, between that ship and the Arrogant, another 74, on the one side, and 6 heavy French frigates, under Admiral Sercey, on the other.
This officer entered the Navy, 28 Feb. 1810, as L.M., on board the Egeria 20, Capt. Lewis Hole, but, removing soon afterwards to the Orion 74, Capt. Sir Arch. Collingwood Dickson, served until Jan. 1814, the greater part of the time as Midshipman, on the Baltic station, where he appears to have been arduously engaged, frequently in the boats, in protecting the trade passing through the Great Belt. He next, for a brief period, joined the Royal Sovereign 100, Capt. Thos. Gordon Caulfeild, and then, proceeding to North America in the Spencer 74, Capt. Rich. Raggett, served in various operations up the Penobscot, and was present at the blockade of Boston, as also of the river Delaware, where, on one occasion, he materially assisted, with the boats, in saving the Spencer, when that ship had taken the ground. Between Aug. 1815 and the date of his promotion, which did not occur until 4 Feb. 1821, five years after he had passed his examination, Mr. Clark further joined, in succession, on the Home station, the Rochfort 80, Capt. Sir A. C. Dickson, Ramillies 74, Rear-Admiral Sir Wm. Johnstone Hope, Severn, Coast Blockade depôt, Capt. Wm. M‘Culloch, Bulwark 74, Rear-Admiral Sir John Gore, Menai 20, Capt. Fairfax Moresby, and Albion 74, Capt. R. Raggett, in whose tender, the Quail cutter, he was for some time employed in the suppression of smuggling. His subsequent appointments were – for a few months in 1821, to the Salisbury 50, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Wm. Chas. Fahie in the Leeward Islands – 10 June, 1825, to the Romney troop-ship, Capt. Nich. Lookyer, variously employed in passages to Quebec, the Tagus, the Mediterranean, and Sierra Leone – 20 July, 183.5, as First-Lieutenant, to the Russell 74, Capt. Sir Wm. Henry Dillon, stationed off the north coast of Spain and in the Mediterranean – and, 10 Aug. 1839, in a similar capacity, to the Edinburgh 72, Capt. Wm. Wilmott Henderson. Participating in the subsequent operations on the coast of Syria, Lieut. Clark, on 2 Oct. 1840, commanded the Edinburgh’s boats, under the present Capt. Henry John Worth, and took up an excellent position for covering the landing party in an attack on the castle of Beyrout and destruction of a train which had been laid to the magazine;[1] and he again, on 5 of the same month, similarly accompanied Commander Fras. Decimus Hastings in a renewed and very successful attempt to remove the powder there deposited. After sharing in the bombardment of St. Jean d’Acre, he was advanced to his present rank, by commission dated 4 Nov. 1840; and, on 15 Dec. following, was appointed Second Captain of the same ship, the Edinburgh, in which he remained until paid off on his return to England, 14 Aug. 1841. He has been employed, since 26 Jan. 1846, as Second Captain of the Rodney 92, Capt. Edw. Collier, on the Channel station.
While on board the Bulwark, in 1819, Commander Clark received a fissure in the skull, and a contusion in the hip and ankle joints, from the stroke of a capstan-bar. He married, 17 Feb. 1829, Janet Alston, second daughter of Major Jas. Alston Stewart, of Everard, co. Perth, by whom he has issue, with one daughter, four sons, of whom the eldest, William, is a Midshipman, R.N.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1840, p. 2609.