A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Malcolm, Charles
MALCOLM, Kt. (Vice-Admiral of the Blue, 1847. f-p., 26; h-p., 30.)
Sir Charles Malcolm, born 5 Sept. 1782, is tenth and youngest son of the late Geo. Malcolm, Esq., of Burnfoot, co. Dumfries (a descendant of the Malcolms of Lahore and Innertiel), by Margaret, sister of Admiral Sir Thos. Pasley, who held a Rear-Admiral’s command, and was raised to the dignity of a Baronet for his gallantry, in the action of 1 June, 1794. He is brother of Sir Jas. Malcolm, K.C.B., Colonel of Marines, who was with Lord Howe at the relief of Gibraltar, and earned distinction during the late war in Spain and North America – of Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm, G.C.B., G.C.M.G.,[1] – and of the late Sir John Malcolm, G.C.B., a General Officer in the Army, who died in 1833. Another of his brothers, George, a Lieutenant in the R.N., died at St. Domingo in 1794. Sir Charles is first-cousin of Vice-Admiral Sir Thos. Briggs, G.C.M.G.
This officer (whose name had been borne from 10 Sept. 1791 until Aug. 1792 on the books of the Vengeance 74, bearing the broad pendant of his uncle. Commodore Pasley, and from April to Dec. 1793 on those of the Penelope 32, Capt. Bartholomew Sam. Rowley) embarked, in April, 1795, as Midshipman, on board the Fox 32, commanded by his brother, Capt. Pulteney Malcolm, and fitting for the East India station;[2] where, in Jan. 1798, he was Master’s Mate of that vessel, when, in company with La Sybille 38, she entered the Spanish harbour of Manilla under French disguise, and (notwithstanding that there were lying there three ships of the line and three frigates) assisted in capturing seven boats, 200 men, and a large quantity of ammunition and implements of war. In the course of the same month we find Mr. Malcolm present in an action with the enemy’s batteries at Samboangon, in the island of Magindanao, in which the loss sustained by the two ships amounted to 6 killed and 16 wounded. Accompanying his brother in June, 1798, into the Suffolk 74, bearing the flag of Vice-Admiral Peter Rainier, he was promoted, 12 Jan. 1799, to a Lieutenancy in that ship. He continued in her until nominated Acting-Commander, 3 Oct. 1801, of the Albatross sloop – an appointment which the Admiralty confirmed 28 May, 1802. On his arrival home in the spring of 1803, as Acting-Captain of the Eurydice 24, he found that he had been officially posted on 29 of the preceding Dec. His succeeding appointments were – 6 April, 1804, for four months, to the Raisonnable 64, Stationed in the North Sea – 17 Sept. 1806, to the Narcissus 32 – 17 June, 1809, to the Rhin 38, in which ship he continued until Aug. 1815 – 15 Sept. 1817, to the Sybille 44, fitting for the flag of Sir Home Popham, Commander-in-Chief in the West Indies, whence he invalided in Feb. 1819 – and 8 July, 1822, and 30 June, 1826, to the William and Mary and Royal Charlotte yachts, lying at Dublin for the purpose of attending on the Lord Lieutenant, the Marquess Wellesley, a service on which he continued until 28 Nov. 1827. On the night of 30 Oct. 1807 Capt. Malcolm, then in the Narcissus, made a desperate attack with four boats on a convoy of 30 sail, lying in Couquet Roads, near Brest, under the protection of several heavy batteries, a cutter, and two gun-brigs, but was eventually obliged to retire with a loss of 7 men killed, and 16, including himself slightly, wounded. Towards the close of the same year it was his fortune to be the chief instrument, as testified by an address from the merchants, of preserving the property of the British at Oporto from falling into the hands of the French. So great was his anxiety on the occasion to afford whatever assistance he could, that, although on the point of starting on a cruize which promised to be most productive, he relinquished that intention, and, when ordered to England with a convoy of 49 sail, not only received on board the plate and other valuable property belonging to the merchants, but actually took charge of 180 pipes of wine – a service of which the Admiralty marked its approbation. After much active employment in the Channel he sailed, in the early part of 1809, for the West Indies, with intelligence for Sir Alex. Cochrane of a French squadron having proceeded thither; and in April of that year he gained the warmest acknowledgments of Major-General Maitland for his conduct on shore at the capture of the Saintes islands.[3] After their subjugation the Narcissus returned home with General Maitland, Governor of Grenada, and General Montgomery, Governor of Dominica. In 1812-13, at which time he had command of the Rhin, Capt. Malcolm was employed in active co-operation with the patriots on the north coast of Spain, under the orders of Sir Geo. Collier and Sir Home Popham; particularly at the attack upon Lequeytio, during which he had command of the island of St. Nicholas, situated near that town;[4] at Guetaria, where he landed for the purpose of reducing the town, but was compelled, by the sudden appearance of more than 2000 French troops, to retire, with the loss of 3 Midshipmen and 29 men taken prisoners;[5] also at Santander, where he again went on shore, took possession of a fort, and rendered much important service; and at the defence of Castro. In the spring of 1813 he was ordered with convoy to the West Indies; and in the course of the following year he was sent, with the Pique 36 and Mosquito brig under his orders, to cruize after an American squadron on the Brazilian station. On 18 July, 1815, Capt. Malcolm, who was at that time Senior officer on the coast of Bretagne, and had been joined by the Menelaus and Havannah frigates, performed a very neat exploit in landing at the head of a body of seamen and marines ftom the three ships at Corrijou, near Abervrach, where he stormed and carried a fort, and, with the assistance of the Fly and Ferret sloops, who had followed, effected the capture of an armed cutter, a praam-brig, and a gun-vessel, together with a convoy reposing in the harbour under their protection. This affair was the last of the sort achieved during the war. While in the Narcissus and Rhin, Capt. Malcolm, who appears to have been in frequent command of small flying squadrons, contrived to take, independently of a whole host of merchantmen, upwards of 20 privateers and other armed vessels, carrying 168 guns and 1059 men.[6] On leaving the Royal Charlotte as above, Sir Chas. Malcolm (he had received the honour of Knighthood at the hands of the Irish Viceroy) was appointed Superintendent of the Bombay Marine; the duties of which important post he continued to discharge for ten years, faithfully and zealously watching over and advancing the interests of the honourable and scientific corps under his command, and ably assisting Government in his station. During that period, as we gain from the general order issued by the Governor in Council on the occasion of his being succeeded by the present Sir Robt. Oliver, he proved eminently successful in elevating the character of the service, instituted many extensive and important surveys, was the means by his judicious instructions and suggestions of making numerous interesting and valuable additions to geography and navigation, and rendered himself conspicuous by his exertions in the introduction and establishment of steam-navigation in the Red Sea. Indeed he effected a complete revulsion in the administration of naval affairs, converting the system as it had pre-existed into what is now recognised as the Indian Navy, a name he was himself the first to impart. His promotion to the rank of Rear-Admiral took place 10 Jan. 1837, and to that of Vice-Admiral 28 April, 1847
Sir Chas. Malcolm married, first, 4 June, 1808, his cousin, Magdalene, daughter of Chas. Pasley, Esq.; and, secondly, 11 April, 1829, Elmira Riddell, youngest daughter of Major-General Shaw. By his first marriage he has issue one daughter, and by his second three sons – the eldest of whom, George John, a Midshipman R.N., entered the service in June, 1842, and was in the Firebrand with the present Capt. Jas. Hope in the expedition up the Parana in Nov. 1845. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
- ↑ Sir Pulteney Malcolm was born 20 Feb. 1768, and entered the Navy, 20 Oct. 1778, on board the Sybil frigate, commanded by his uncle, Capt. Pasley. He was promoted (after having shared in an action between Commodore Johnstone and a French squadron under M. de Suffrein in Porto Praya Bay) to the rank of Lieutenant 3 March, 1783; was made Commander 3 April, 1794; and posted 22 Oct. in the same year. Between the latter period and that of his advancement to Flag-rank, 4 Dec. 1813, he held command in succession of the Fox 32, Suffolk and Victorious 74’s, flag-ships of Vice-Admiral Rainier, Royal Sovereign 100, Kent, Renown, Donegal, and Royal Oak 74’s, and San Josef 110. In those ships his general activity, and the skill and judgment he exhibited on all occasions, gained him much distinction. He commanded the Donegal in Nelson’s pursuit of the combined squadrons to the West Indies; also in Sir John Duckworth’s action (for which he obtained a gold medal and a vase fiom the Patriotic Society, valued at 100l.); and at the destruction of the French shipping in Aix Roads. In the Kent he officiated as Captain of the Fleet under Lord Keith. During the latter portion of the operations on the Coast of North America he held a Rear-Admiral’s command, and was employed in that capacity in the attack upon New Orleans. In the summer of 1815, Sir Pulteney (who had been nominated in 1812 a Colonel of Royal Marines, and in Jan. 1815 a K.C.B.) was appointed to the command of a Naval force ordered to co-operate with the Duke of Wellington and the allied armies. He next, from the spring of 1816 until the close of 1817, commanded in chief on the St. Helena station; and, attaining the rank of Vice-Admiral 19 July, 1821, was further employed as Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean from June, 1828, until June, 1831, in the Downs and on the coast of Holland with the combined fleets of France aud Spain under his orders in 1832, and again in the Mediterranean from May, 1833, until April, 1834. He was created a G.C.M G. in 1829, a G.C.B. in 1833, and a full Admiral 10 Jan. 1837. He died 20 July, 1838.
- ↑ The Fox, in Nov. 1796, conveyed the present Duke of Wellington, then Colonel Wellesley, of the 33rd Regt., from the Cape of Good Hope to India.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1809, p. 780.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1812, p. 1278.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1812, p. 1441.
- ↑ Including the Cantela Spanish man-of-war schooner, pierced for 12 guns, but carrying only 6, with 25 men, captured 19 Aug. 1807 (Vide Gaz. 1807, p. 1125); the Avantura letter-of-marque of 10 guns and 43 men; and the privateers Navarrois of 16 guns and 132 men, San Joseph of 14 guns and 68 men, La Comtesse de Montalivet of 14 guns and 57 men, La Courageuse of 14 guns and 70 men, and Decatur of 223 tons.