A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Davies, George
DAVIES. (Commander, 1842.)
George Davies was born in the parish of St. Cuthbert, Wells, co. Somerset.
This officer entered the Navy, 23 June, 1813, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Ajax 74, Capts. Robt. Waller Otway and Geo. Mundy. In that ship he assisted, while at the siege of St. Sebastian, in taking the island of Sta. Clara, and was present, as Midshipman, at the blockade of Rochefort and of Toulon, the surrender of Marseilles, and the capture of a vast number of the enemy’s armed and other vessels. Joining next the Queen Charlotte 100, bearing the flag of Lord Exmouth, he took part in the bombardment of Algiers, 27 Aug. 1816; and on that occasion he particularly attracted the notice of his Commander-in-Chief, whose orders he was throughout employed in conveying to the different ships of the fleet. The boat he commanded was frequently under the necessity of being partially re-manned, in consequence of the great loss of her crew in killed and wounded. In Sept. 1817, Mr. Davies, who for the last twelve months had been unable to procure employment, rejoined Lord Exmouth in the Impregnable 104, on that officer hoisting his flag as Commander-in-Chief at Plymouth; shortly after which he proceeded to St. Helena in the Sappho 18, Capt. Jas. Hanway Plumridge. He subsequently, in 1821, became attached to the Seringapatam 46, Capt. Sam. Warren, in the boats of which ship he appears to have assisted at the capture and destruction of various piratical vessels in the West Indies. On his removal, in Jan. 1824, to the Naiad 46, Capt. Hon. Robt. Cavendish Spencer, then in the Mediterranean, he contributed to the utter defeat, on 31 of the month, of the Tripoli, Algerine corvette of 18 guns and 100 men; and, on the night of 23 May following, he aided in the boats, under Lieut. Michael Quin, at the brilliant destruction of a 16-gun brig, moored in a position of extraordinary strength alongside the walls of the fortress of Bona, in which were a garrison of about 400 soldiers, who, from cannon and musket, kept up a tremendous fire, almost perpendicularly, on the deck. He afterwards, in charge of the ship’s barge, brought out a piratical mistico from the island of Hydra; and, on rejoining the Seringapatam, Capt. Chas. Sotheby, frequently landed, at the head of a division of seamen, in order to cooperate with the marines of that ship and of the Revenge in their hostilities against the pirates of other Greek settlements in the Archipelago. Having been promoted, for his gallantry at Bona, to the rank of Lieutenant 1 June, 1826, five years previously to which he had passed his examination, Mr. Davies, early in 1827, returned to England on board the Sybille 48, Capt. Sir Sam. John Brooke Pechell. Between 13 Dec. 1828 and 1831, he farther served in the West Indies, as First-Lieutenant of the Ranger 28, Capt. Wm. Walpole, Sparrowhawk 18, Capt. Thos. Gill, and Mersey 26, Capt. Geo. Wm. Conway Courtenay. On 6 July, 1832, he was appointed to a station in the Coast Guard, which he resigned on being nominated to the command, 28 Nov. 1836, of the Tartar Revenue-cutter. At the expiration of his servitude in the latter vessel he returned to the Coast Guard, 27 March, 1840, and continued in that service (in which, and in the Tartar, he was so successful as to effect the capture of not fewer than 15 notorious smuggling vessels, besides making numerous other seizures and many valuable salvages) until 1 Jan. 1842, when he was promoted to his present rank. Since 3 July, 1843, he has been re-employed in the Coast Guard as an Inspecting Commander. The generous exertions of this officer in often hazarding his life for the preservation of his fellow creatures, by jumping overboard and otherwise, have been so conspicuous as to have obtained for him six medals from the Royal Humane Society and the National Shipwreck Institution. King Louis Philippe, in acknowledgment of his having saved the crews of three French vessels, has also conferred on him two gold “medals of merit;” and on the last occasion His Majesty presented him with the order of the Legion of Honour, which, however, the existing regulations did not permit him to accept. In addition to these testimonials of Commander Davies’ high merit, we may further enumerate the presentation of three pieces of plate, and the frequent thanks of the Board of Admiralty and of the Committee at Lloyd’s.
He married, 20 July, 1832, Julia, fourth daughter of Joseph Hume, Esq., for many years head of the Admiralty Department at Somerset House, by whom he has issue five children.