A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Hay, George James
HAY. (Captain, 1846.)
George James Hay is second son of the late Lieut.-General Hay, Lieut.-Governor of Edinburgh Castle.
This officer entered the Navy, 13 Dec. 1806, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Thames 32, Capt. Bridges Watkinson Taylor, with whom, and with Capt. Edwards Lloyd Graham, he continued to serve, in the same ship and the Apollo 38, on the West India and Mediterranean stations, principally as Midshipman, until July, 1814. He assisted, in the latter vessel, in capturing, 13 Feb., 1812 [errata 1], the French frigate-built store-ship Mérinos, of 20 guns and 126 men [errata 2], under the batteries of Corsica, and, on 20 of the following Sept., the National xebec Ulysse, of 6 guns. Participating also in nearly every one of the numerous affairs in which the Apollo’s boats were engaged when in the Adriatic, he was in consequence present at the reduction of the islands of Augusta and Curzola 29 Jan. and 3 Feb. 1813; the capture, on 11 April, of the Devil’s Island, near the north entrance of Corfu; and the cutting-out, 13 days later, after a body of the enemy’s troops had been defeated, of a felucca from under the batteries of St. Cataldo. On 6 July, 1815, while next serving on board the Eurotas 38, Capts. Jas. Lillicrap and Robt. Bloye, Mr. Hay was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. Being appointed, on 7 of the following Nov., to the Alceste 38, Capt. Murray Maxwell, he sailed in that ship with Lord Amherst for China, and continued in her until wrecked, in the Straits of Gaspar, on her passage home, 18 Feb. 1817, soon after the occurrence of which disaster he appears to have acquired honourable mention for his gallant conduct in pursuing with a single boat, and capturing, a Malay proa, whose crew defended themselves with so much desperation, that the vessel went down as soon as she had been taken. Mr. Hay’s succeeding appointments were – 24 April, 1819, to the Menai 26, Capt. Fairfax Moresby, by whom his exertions on proceeding to the coast of Africa were often noticed, particularly when in command of the Wizard tender, and once when cutting-out in the boats the piratical slaver 'Industry' from under the batteries of Zanzibar – 10 Dec. 1823, to the Maidstone 42, bearing the broad pendant of Commodore Chas. Bullen, also on the African station, whence, although on the Admiralty List for promotion, his health obliged him to invalid – and, 4 Dec. 1827, to the command of the Meteor steam-vessel. He obtained a second promotal commission 18 Sept. 1828, but did not again go afloat until 14 Dec. 1844, when he obtained command of the Racehorse 18, and sailed for the East Indies. In Dec. 1845, being at the time at New Zealand, he landed in command of a detachment of seamen and marines, and on the 11th of the following month, after having participated for three weeks in a series of the most trying operations (more fully alluded to in our memoir of Capt. Chas. Graham), during which his zeal and exertions were very conspicuous, stormed and carried, notwithstanding a desperate resistance of four hours, a strongly fortified pah, belonging to a rebel chieftain, named Kawiti.[1] He was in consequence advanced to his present rank by commission bearing date the day of the action, 11 Jan. 1846, and nominated a C.B. 27 July following. He is now on half-pay.
Capt. Hay married, 24 June, 1830, Georgiana Middleton, fourth daughter of Sir John R. Whiteford. Agents – Messrs. Halford and Co.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1846, pp. 2346, 2348.