A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Louis, John
LOUIS, Bart. (Rear-Admiral of the Red, 1838. f-p., 30; h-p., 22.)
Sir John Louis is eldest son of the late Rear-Admiral Sir Thos. Louis, Bart., K.F.M.,[1] by Jacquetta, daughter of Sam. Belfield, Esq.; and brother of the present Lieut.-Colonel Matthew Louis, R.A., and the late Commander Chas. Belfield Louis, R.N. (1819), who died in Dec. 1834, at Chelston, near Torquay. His nephew, Belfield Woolcombe, is a Lieutenant in the R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, in Sept. 1795, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Minotaur 74, commanded by his father in the Channel; and, from Feb. 1797 until Aug. 1800, served as Midshipman in the Indefatigable 46 and Impétueux 74, each under the orders of Capt. Sir Edw. Pellew, whom, in June of the latter year, he accompanied in an expedition to Quiberon. After an attachment of a few months to the Ajax 74, Capt. Hon. Alex. Inglis Cochrane, and Cambrian 40, Capt. Fred. Lewis Maitland, he again, in Feb. 1801, joined the Minotaur, of which ship, still commanded by his father, he was created a Lieutenant 21 April, 1801. While in her Mr. Louis was employed in the expedition to Egypt. Being next, in 1802, appointed to the Naiad 38, Capt. Jas. Wallis, he took command, jointly with Lieut. Wm. Dean, of the boats of that frigate, and on the evening of 4 July, 1803, assisted in cutting out the French national schooner La Providence, of 2 guns and 22 men, laden with timber and cannon, and lying near Brest – a service which was effected without casualty, notwithstanding a great rapidity of tide and the difficulties offered by a number of rocks and shoals with which the enemy’s vessel was surrounded. On 14 Dec. 1804, 12 months after he had joined the Royal George 100, flag-ship in the Mediterranean of Sir Rich. Bickerton, Mr. Louis was there promoted to the acting-command of the Childers sloop. He was confirmed a Commander 28 Feb. 1805; and on 22 Jan. 1806, several months subsequent to his removal to the Bittern, he was promoted to Post-rank. His succeeding appointments, it appears, were – 1 Aug. 1810, to the Druid frigate, employed off the coast of Ireland and the port of Cadiz – in April, 1811, to L’Aigle 36, stationed in the Mediterranean and West Indies – 26 Aug. 1815, to the Scamander 36, lying at Sheerness – 19 Feb. 1816, to the Forth 40, fitting for the North American station, whence he returned home and was paid off in July, 1819 – and, 30 Aug. 1826, to the Barham 50, in which ship (put out of commission 12 Aug. 1830) he served in the West Indies as Flag-Captain to Hon. Chas. Elphinstone Fleeming. During his command of L’Aigle Sir John Louis earned a very high character, and was in particular mentioned for the manner in which he placed his ship, and the precision of her fire, on the occasion of the capture and destruction of a French convoy under the guns of Porto Maurizio, 11 April, 1814. On 6 Jan. 1838 he was appointed Superintendent, with the rank of Commodore, of Malta dockyard, where he continued during the usual period of five years. Since 16 Dec. 1846 (he had acquired Flag-rank 28 June, 1838) he has been in discharge of the duties of Admiral-Superintendent at Plymouth.
During the reign of William IV. Sir John Louis was one of His Majesty’s Naval Aides-de-Camp. He married, 15 Oct. 1807, the eldest daughter of Lieut.-Colonel Wm. Kirkpatrick, 8th Regt. Bengal Native Infantry, by whom he has a son, William, a Captain in the R.N.; and a daughter, Clementina, married to Capt. Robt. Spencer Robinson, R.N. Agent – Joseph Woodhead.
- ↑ Sir Thos. Louis entered the Navy in 1770; was Lieutenant of the Bienfaisant in Keppel’s action with the Comte d’Orvilliers In 1778; and in 1780 fought in the same ship in the action with Don Juan de Langara, of whose flag- ship he was constituted Prize-Master. Obtaining Post-rank in 1783, and the command, subsequently, of the Minotaur 74, it was his fortune to be present in that ship at the battle of the Nile 1 Aug. 1798. In 1804 he was advanced to the rank of Rear-Admiral; and in April, 1806, as a reward for his conduct under Sir John Duckworth in the action off St. Domingo, he was raised to the dignity of a Baronet. In Feb. 1807 Sir Thomas Louis was the companion of the latter officer in the passage of the Dardanells. He died 17 May following on board the Canopus 80, while in command of the naval portion of the Egyptian expedition.