A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Kelly, Benedictus Marwood
KELLY. (Captain, 1821. f-p., 17; h-p, 32.)
Benedictus Marwood Kelly, born 1 Sept. 1790, is second son of Benedictus Marwood Kelly, Esq., Attorney-at-Law, of Holsworthy, co. Devon, by Mary, daughter of Arscott Coham, Esq., of the same place. He is brother of Commander Wm. Kelly, R.N., and of the late Lieut. John Tucker Kelly, of the Horse-Artillery at Madras; and first-cousin of the present Arthur Kelly, Esq., of Kelly, Devon. One bf hii uncles, Francis John, was a Captain in the l8th, or Royal Irish Regt.; another, William Hancock, died a Vice-Admiral of the Blue 2 May, 1811, aged 60, leaving a son, the late Lieut. Magnus Morton Kelly, R.N, (1808); and a third, Capt. Lewis Robertson, of the Veteran 64, fell at the head of a brigade of seamen while serving on shore at the storming of Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, in 1794. The eldest son of Capt. Fras. John Kelly, now deceased, wis a Captain in the Royal African Corps.
This officer entered the Navy, 19 Oct. 1798, as A.B., on board the Niger 32, Capt. Hon. Philip Wodehouse, on the Guernsey station; and in the following Nov., after having accompanied the same officer into the Volage 28, joined the Gibraltar 80, commanded at first by his uncle; Capt. W. H. Kelly, and next by Capt. Geo. Fred. Ryves. During a continuance of nearly six years in the latter ship, he assisted at the capture, 19 June, 1799, of Rear-Admiral Perrée’s squadron of three frigates and two brigs, attended the expeditions of 1800 and 1801 to Ferrol and Egypt, and was wounded while serving in the boats in a successful attack made upon the French while they were besieging the town of Porto Ferrajo in the island of Elba. In Oct. 1804, Mr. Kelly, who had been borne for short periods on the books of the Royal William, flag-ship at Spithead of Admiral Geo. Montagu, and Swiftsure 74, Capt. Mark Robinson, rejoined his relative on board the Téméraire 98, in which ship he continued to be employed under Capt. Elias Harvey, until made Sub-Lieutenant, 12 Jan. 1805, into the Eling schooner, Lieut.-Commander Wm. Archbold. Being promoted to a full Lieutenancy, 31 Jan. 1806, in the Adamant 50, Capt. John Stiles, he sailed with an East India convoy for the Cape of Good Hope, and on 6 of the ensuing May was present, during the passage, at the capture of the Spanish frigate-built privateer La Reparadora, of 30 guns and 315 men. From the Adamant, which ship had been latterly cruizing very productively on the coast bf Guinea, and also off the Havana, where she appears to haVe been employed in blockading a Spanish ship of the line, Lieut. Kelly removed, in Aug. 1807, to the Daedalus 32, Capts. Fred. Warren, Wm. Ward, and Sam. Hood Inglefield. Under the latter officer, in company with a small squadron commanded by Capt. Chas. Dashwood, he contributed, in Dec. 1808, to the reduction of the fort and town of Samana, St. Domingo, almost the last port of refuge on the station for the enemy’s privateers. The officers and crews of the latter having on the occasion effected their escape, Mr. Kelly was placed in charge of the boats of the Daedalus and Aurora frigates, and sent in pursuit of them. After a search of four days and nights under an incessant rain, which afterwards proved fatal to most of the persons employed, they were traced up a small river, and found in ambuscade on its banks behind a breastwork, which had been thrown up as a means of defence. This however was instantly charged in face of a galling fire of musketry, and the whole of the enemy made prisoners. In March, 1810, Mr. Kelly became First of the Polyphemus 64, bearing the flag of Vice-Admiral Bartholomew Sam. Rowley; upon the occasion of whose death he was sent with despatches, in the Bramble, Lieut.-Commander Johh Fleming, to England, where, on his arrival, he was advanced to the rank of Commander by commission dated 28 Nov. 1811. From that period, although incessant in his applications for employment, and offering to serve as a volunteer during the American war, and again with Lord Exmouth at Algiers, Capt. Kelly remained on half-pay until appointed, 28 Sept. 1818, to the command of the Pheasant, of 22 guns. In that sloop he was employed on the coast of Africa Until Feb. 1822, during the greater part of which period he was senior officer of the squadron on the station. As a reward for his zeal, activity, and vigilance, he was presented with a Post-commission dated 19 July, 1821. Since he left the Pheasant, as above stated, in Feb. 1822, Capt. KeUy has again been on half-pay.
He married, 31 Aug. 1837, Mary Anne, only daughter and heir of Richard Price, Esq., of Highfield Park, co. Sussex, and was left a widower 14 July, 1838.