A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Haye, George
HAYE. (Captain, 1829. f-p., 20; h-p., 26.)
George Haye was born 15 April, 1788, at Callington, co. Cornwall.
This officer entered the Navy, 1 Aug. 1801, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Hercule 74, Capt. Wm. Luke, stationed in the Channel. From May, 1802, until April, 1807, he was next employed, as Midshipman and Master’s Mate, chiefly in the East Indies, in the St. Fiorenzo 36, Capts. Joseph Bingham, John Batt, Henry Lambert, and Geo. Nicholas Hardinge. He then rejoined Capt. Bingham for a short time on board the Sceptre 74, and was afterwards, between July, 1807, and his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant, 9 Aug. 1808, transferred in succession to the Grampus 50, Capt. Jas. Haldane Tait, St. Albans 64, Capt. Fras. Wm. Austen, and Iphigenia 36, Capt. Henry Lambert. In the latter frigate he made a voyage to Quebec; on his return whence he was appointed, 11 Feb. and 26 June, 1809, to the Vulture 16, Capt. Martin White, and Active 46, Capt. Jas. Alex. Gordon. Accompanying the last-mentioned officer to the Adriatic, Mr. Haye there, on 3 Feb. 1811, commanded the barges of his own frigate and of the Cerberus, at the capture of four Venetian trabaccolos, under a heavy fire of musketry from a body of troops quartered at Pestichi; nine days after which event we find him conspicuously assisting in the boats of the same ships, under Lieut. Jas. Dickinson, at the cutting-out, near the town of Ortano (where two important magazines were at the same time destroyed), and in the face of a teasing fire, which was kept up for five hours, of a convoy of 10 sail, protected by a trabaccolo of 6 guns.[1] On 13 of the following March Mr. Haye had the fortune to participate in the memorable action off Lissa, where a British squadron, carrying in the whole 156 guns and 879 men, completely routed, after a conflict of six hours, and a loss to the Active of 4 men killed and 24 wounded, a Franco-Venetian armament, whose force amounted to 284 guns and 2655 men. At the close of the action he was placed on board the Corona, one of the prize-frigates, and for his exertions in extinguishing a fire which soon afterwards threatened the destruction of that ship, he appears to have elicited the warmest thanks of Capt. Wm. Hoste, the senior officer of the British squadron, and to have been strongly recommended by him to the Commander-in-Chief.[2] On 27 July, 1811, Mr. Haye, who had been severely burnt on the latter occasion, and had not yet recovered, very handsomely volunteered to assist, which he accordingly did, at the capture of a convoy of 28 merchantmen, defended, in a creek of the island of Ragosniza, by 300 troops and three gun-vessels.[3] He subsequently, on 29 Nov. in the same year (Capt. Gordon and the First-Lieutenant, Mr. Wm. Bateman Dashwood, having been put hors-de-cambat), succeeded to the command of the Active, and was himself slightly hurt in the course of a hard-fought action of an hour and 40 minutes, which in rendering that frigate captor of La Pomone, of 44 guns and 332 men, 50 of whom were killed and wounded, occasioned her a loss of 8 killed and 27 wounded,[4] As a reward for his highly-lauded gallantry in these and other Instances, Mr. Haye was ultimately, on 19 May, 1812, promoted to the rank of Commander.. His last appointments were, 17 Feb. 1814, to the Pelter 12, employed, until Sept. 1815, on the North American station – 1 Jan. 1821, to the Coast Guard service in Ireland, where his conduct in soon after effecting the destruction of the Dandy, a large smuggling cutter, procured him the particular notice of the Lords of the Treasury – 8 Dec. 1827 (having left the Coast Guard in the previous Jan.), to the Erebus bomb, attached to the force in the Mediterranean – and, 8 July, 1828, to the Raleigh, 18, on the same station. He returned to England on being advanced to his present rank 4 March, 1829.
Capt. Haye married, 15 May, 1834, Nanny, youngest daughter of Wm. Davey, Esq., of Redruth, co. Cornwall, by whom, who died 6 June, 1843, he has issue two sons and one daughter. Agents – Coplands and Burnett.