A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Gosselin, Thomas Le Marchant
GOSSELIN. (Admiral of the Red, 1841. f-p., 29; h-p., 40.)
Thomas Le Marchant Gosselin, born 7 May, 1765, is second son ’of Joshua Gosselin, Esq., Colonel of the North Regiment of Militia, by Martha, daughter of Thos. Le Marchant, Esq., of Guernsey. He is brother of General Gerard Gosselin, of Mount Ospringe, co. Kent, and also of Lieuts. Corbet and Chas. Gosselin, of the Navy and Army, both of whom died at Trinidad in 1803. His nephew, Lieut. J. C. Gosselin, is a Lieut. R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, 2 Aug. 1778, on board the Action 44, Capt. P. Boteler, with whom he removed, in June of the following year, to the Ardent 64. That ship being captured on 16 Aug. 1779, by the combined fleets of France and Spain, he remained for three months a prisoner at Alençon, in Normandy. He next joined the Barfleur 98, bearing the flag of Sir Sam. Hood, in which ship, after witnessing the reduction of the Dutch island of St. Eustatius, he fought in the action with the Comte de Grasse off Martinique, 29 April, 1781, and in those of 25 and 26 Jan. 1782, off St. Kitt’s. Removing then to the Champion, commanded by Capt. Hood, Mr. Gosselin took further part in the memorable operations of 9 and 12 April, 1782, as also in the capture, on 19 of the same month, of two French line-of-battle ships, a frigate, and a corvette, the latter of which struck to the {sc|Champion}} after a few broadsides. After an additional servitude in the Aimable 32, Carnatic 74, Nautilus 16, Grampus 50, Triumph 74, and Barfleur 98, on various stations, he was promoted, 1 Dec. 1787, to the rank of Lieutenant; his appointments in which capacity were, it appears, to the Atalanta 16, Crown 64, and Minerva 38, all on the East India station; where he was invested with the command, 20 April, 1793, of the Despatch sloop. Capt. Gosselin, whose next appointment was, 19 March, 1794, to the Kingfisher 18, subsequently assisted the Hon. Wm. Cornwallis in the capture of a small convoy off Belleisle, and compelled a French frigate to cast off a large store-ship she had in tow.[1] Being confirmed to Post-rank 23 July, 1795, in the Brunswick 74, he further obtained command, on 22 April and 25 July, 1796, of the Diamond 38, and Syren 32. At the conclusion of the mutiny at Spithead in 1797 (previously to which he had captured the Sans Peur French cutter privateer, carrying 2 swivels, some small arms, and 18 men) Capt. Gosselin proceeded in the latter frigate, with the Pearl 32, and 20-gun ships Dart and Arrow, under his orders, to the relief of Sir Rich. Strachan off St. Marcon. In March, 1798, he sailed in charge of a large convoy for Jamaica and the Leeward Islands, carrying out at the same time Major-General Bowyer, the Governor-General, and Staff; and on this occasion the Masters of the merchantmen presented him with a very valuable sword, as a mark of their respect and esteem. After contributing, in Aug. 1799, to the reduction of the Dutch colony of Surinam, Capt. Gosselin returned to England with another convoy. He was next employed for three months during the summer of 1800 in attendance upon George III. at Weymouth. In Feb. 1801 we again find him escorting the trade to the West Indies, where he continued until the peace. The Melampus, to which frigate Capt. Gosselin had been removed in the previous Oct., being paid off 23 June, 1802, he did not again go afloat until 2 Feb. 1804, on which date he was appointed to the Ville de Paris 110 bearing the flag of the Hon. Wm. Cornwallis off Brest; where, on being appointed in the following summer to the Latona 38, he so distinguished himself by his energy in command of the in-shore squadron of frigates as to attract the successive thanks of the above officer and of Lord Gardner and Sir Chas. Cotton. From the Latona Capt. Gosselin (who had captured in her the Amphion Spanish privateer of 12 guns and 70 men) removed, on 4 Feb. 1306, to the Audacious 74. In that ship, after having gone to the West Indies in pursuit of Jerome Buonaparte, and been dismasted in a hurricane, he appears to have been employed, first in escorting the army under Sir John Moore to and from Gottenborg, next in conveying that officer and Lieut.Generals Sir Harry Burrard and Sir John Hope to the shores of Portugal, whither he took charge also of the transports, and finally in superintending the embarkation of the army after the battle of Corunna. Capt. Gosselin’s unremitted exertions on the latter occasion procured him the thanks of Sir John Hope, whom he brought home, and also of both Houses of Parliament.[2] He had previously, when ordered to Sweden, carried out Major-General Sir Edw. Paget and Sir John Murray; and he had had the honour, on his return from that country, of affording a passage to Sir John Moore and the above-named Sir John Hope. He left the Audacious in March, 1809. Although subsequently appointed to the Cressy 74, his health prevented him from joining, and he has since been on half-pay. He became a Rear-Admiral 4 June, 1814; a Vice-Admiral 27 May, 1825; and a full Admiral 23 Nov. 1841.
Admiral Gosselin, a Magistrate for Hertfordshire, married, 18 March, 1809, Sarah, daughter of Jeremiah Rayment Hadsley, Esq., of Ware Priory, in that co., by whom he has issue a son and three daughters. The son is married to the eldest daughter of Capt. Sir John Marshall, R.N., C.B., K.C.H.