A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Marshall, Henry Masterman
MARSHALL. (Commander, 1814. f-p., 19; h-p., 33.)
Henry Masterman Marshall, born 15 June, 1784, at St. Stephen’s, near Saltash, co. Cornwall, is son of the late Rev. ___ Marshall, of Saltash; grandson of Mr. Masterman, many years a Purser and Secretary in the R.N.; nephew of the late Superannuated Rear-Admiral Thos. Gaberion; and first-cousin of the present Lieut. Chas. Henry Masterman, R.N. One of the Commander’s brothers, Thomas Gaberion, a Lieutenant R.N., served as Midshipman and Master’s Mate of the Culloden 74 under the late Sir Thos. Troubridge; was present in that ship in the famous actions of 1 June, 1794, 14 Feb. 1797, and 1 Aug. 1798; and was eventually killed in action in South America. Another of his brothers, John, died a Midshipman in the service.
This officer entered the Navy, in Jan. 1795, as A.B., on board the Camel store-ship, Capts. Edw. Rotheram, Rich. Raggett, Thos. Gordon Caulfeild, and John Lee; and was present in that vessel at the detention of five Dutch men-of-war and a large convoy in Plymouth Sound, and also in the operations which preceded the surrender to the British of St. Fiorenza, in the island of Corsica. Removing, some months after he had attained the rating of Midshipman, to the Swiftsure 74, Capt. Benj. Hallowell, Mr. Marshall, who continued in the same ship under the flag of Sir Rich. Bickerton until the early part of 1801, saw a vastitude of active service. While stationed at first off Cadiz (in the vicinity of which place he came into frequent contact with the enemy’s gun-vessels) he so distinguished himself by the alacrity he exhibited in being the first with his boat to take in tow the Thalia frigate and Alexander 74, when those ships lay becalmed under a torrent of shot and shells from the enemy’s flotilla and batteries, that Earl St. Vincent was impelled to thank him on the quarter-deck of his flag-ship, the Ville de Paris, and to make him a promise of early promotion. After sharing in the battle of the Nile, and assisting at the capture of La Fortune corvette of 16 guns and 70 men, we find him serving on shore as Aide-de-camp to Capts. Hallowell and Troubridge at the capture of Naples and its dependencies; during the proceedings connected with which he was constantly employed, under a heavy fire, in carrying the despatches of Lord Nelson and Capt. Alex. John Ball, the second in command, to and from Naples and the head-quarters before St. Elmo. He was not unfrequently, too, selected to receive and re-conduct a flag-of-truce. Besides participating in a variety of boat-services along the Egyptian and Italian shores, and lending his aid to the capture, 5 April, 1800, of the two Spanish 36-gun frigates El Carmen and Florentina, each laden with 1500 quintals of silver, he was made, we may add, the bearer of the celebrated coffin constructed out of the mainmast of L’Orient, the French Commander-in-Chief’s ship in the battle of the Nile, sent by Capt. Hallowell as a present to Lord Nelson, whose thanks Mr. Marshall had had the fortune of previously eliciting. Following Sir Rich. Bickerton into the Kent 74, he was afforded an opportunity, during the expedition to Egypt, of being present at the landing of the troops, 8 March, 1801, and in the actions of 13 and 21 of the same month. For the important service he afterwards rendered in piloting a number of frigates, brigs, and smaller vessels into the western harbour of Alexandria, where, it appears, he was intrusted with the charge of all the prizes, he was nominated Acting-Lieutenant of the Madras 54, into which ship Sir Rich. Bickerton had shifted his flag. He was not, however, confirmed a Lieutenant until 30 Aug. 1803, by which period he had again served with the last-mentioned officer in the Kent 74, and with Capts. Wm. Hancock Kelly and Geo. Fred. Ryves in the Gibraltar 80. We must not omit to record here that his Egyptian services had procured him the superior Turkish gold medal; and that for his official promotion he was indebted to the early promise of Lord St. Vincent. He continued in the Gibraltar until Aug. 1804; then joined the Dreadnought 98, bearing the flag in the Channel of Vice-Admiral Collingwood; and was subsequently appointed – 27 July, 1805, to the Hind 28, in which ship, successively commanded by Capts. Fras. Wm. Fane and Rich. Budd Vincent, for four months by himself, and by Capts. John Simpson and Geo. Miller Bligh, he returned to the Mediterranean – 18 Nov. 1808, to the Woolwich 44, Capt. Fras. Beaufort, on the same station – 9 Aug. 1809, to the command of the Veteran prison-ship at Portsmouth – and 23 Nov. 1812, and 27 July, 1813, to the Royal William and, as First-Lieutenant, to the Prince 98, flag-ships at Spithead of his old friend Sir B. Bickerton. During the operations of 1807 in Egypt, Mr. Marshall, then in the Hind, was very actively employed; and on the final evacuation of Alexandria was ordered by the senior naval officer, Capt. Hallowell, to sink several ships laden with stores, for the purpose of destroying the entrance into the harbour. He soon afterwards volunteered to land at the island of Cyprus, for the purpose of conveying letters to the Acting-Consul, instructing him to prevent the further transmission of supplies to Egypt – a most perilous service, in the performance of which he was compelled to use every precaution to avoid falling into the hands of the Turks, and was for three days under the necessity of lying concealed. On one occasion, while cruizing in the Archipelago he contrived, with the Hind’s jolly-boat and only four unarmed men under his orders, to board and make prize of a Turkish brig of 4 guns, having on board the Governor of Candia and his body-guard, armed in the usual manner with sabres, pistols, muskets, and dirks; and on another he succeeded, in a punt belonging to a one-masted felucca in which he had been sent to Majorca for the purpose of effecting an exchange of prisoners, in capturing a large three-masted felucca, carrying, in addition to her crew and 4 guns, a valuable cargo, and as many as 50 refugees proceeding from Tarragona to Palma. In the achievement of the latter exploit Mr. Marshall’s boat was again manned with but four persons, natives of Gibraltar, commonly called “Rock Scorpions,” and was totally destitute of arms. In 1808 he assisted, and was second in command under Capt. Trollope, at the evacuation of Scylla, where, as had been the case during the last series of operations on the coast of Egypt, he was wounded by a musket-ball in the left leg. He was advanced to his present rank in honour of the grand naval review held before the Allied Sovereigns at Spithead, 27 June, 1814, and has since been on half-pay.
Commander Marshall is the author of ‘An Appeal to the British Nation on behalf of the Mercantile Marine,’ published by Ridgway in 1836. He married, first, 21 May, 1805, Ann, niece of the late Sir Walter Ferguson, and also of Capt. Jas. Ferguson R.N., who died Lieutenant-Governor of Greenwich Hospital, 14 Feb. 1793. By that lady he had issue seventeen children, six only of whom, three sons and three daughters, are now living. He married a second time, 14 Feb. 1839, Ann, only daughter of the late J. C. Bright, Esq., of Plaistow, Essex.