A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Pakenham, John
PAKENHAM. (Captain, 1826. f-p., 13; h-p., 30.)
John Pakenham, born 18 Oct. 1790, is fourth son of the late Admiral Hon. Sir Thos. Pakenham, G.C.B.[1] (second son of the first Lord Longford), by Louisa, daughter of the Right Hon. John Staples; and brother (with Lieut. Henry Pakenham, R.N. (1827), who died in April, 1839) of the present Edw. Michael Conolly, Esq., D.C.L., Captain R.A., and M.P. for Donegal. Capt. Pakenham is first-cousin of the gallant Major-General Hon. Sir Edw. Michael Pakenham, G.C.B., who fell at New Orleans 8 Jan. 1815; of Lieut.-General Hon. Sir Hercules Robt. Pakenham, K.C.B., a distinguished Peninsular officer; of Capt. Hon. Wm. Pakenham, R.N., who was lost in the Saldanha frigate in 1811; and of the late Duchess of Wellington.
This officer entered the Navy, 22 April, 1804, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Repulse 74, Capts. Hon. Arthur Kaye Legge and John Halliday, under the former of whom he took part, as Midshipman, in Sir Robt. Calder’s action, 22 July, 1805, and accompanied the expeditions of 1807 and 9 to the Dardanells and the Scheldt. In the course of 1810, after a short servitude in the Mediterranean on board the Warspite 74, Capt. Hon. Henry Blackwood, he was nominated, on that station, Acting-Lieutenant of the Ville de Paris 110, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Thos. Fras. Fremantle. In Oct. of the same year he went back, in a similar capacity, to the Warspite, still commanded by Capt. Blackwood, although subsequently by Capt. Henry Edw. Reginald Baker. While in that ship, to which he was confirmed by commission bearing date 16 July, 1811, we find him participating in a very gallant skirmish, in which the British, with a slender force, beat back a powerful division of the French Toulon fleet. In Aug. 1812 Mr. Pakenham joined the Magicienne 36, Capt. Hon. Wm. Gordon; and on 15 June, 1814, after having witnessed the fall of St. Sebastian, he was advanced to the rank of Commander. His next appointment was, 21 June, 1815, to the Bermuda 10, which vessel, on her arrival in the West Indies, was unfortunately lost near Tampico Bar, 16 Nov. 1816. From the latter date Capt. Pakenham did not again go afloat until invested, 16 Aug. 1825, with the command of the Harrier 18, on the Cork station. He acquired his present rank 26 Aug. 1826; and on 1 Oct. 1846 he accepted the retirement.
He married, 3 Nov. 1817, Caroline Emily, third daughter of the late Rear-Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham, K.C.B., by whom (who died 2 Aug. 1844) he had issue a son and three daughters. Agents – Hallett and Robinson.
- ↑ The Hon. Sir Thos. Pakenham was born in 1757, and first went to sea in 1770 on board the Southampton frigate, Captain M‘Bride. He attained the rank of Lieutenant in 1776; of Commander in 1779; and of Post-Captain (as a reward for his distinguishrd services as Acting-Captain of the Bristol, under Commodore Cornwallis) 2 March, 1780. When in command of the Crescent of 28 guns and 198 men, he accompanied Admiral Darby to the relief of Gibraltar in 1781; and on 29 May in that year maintained a brilliant action of two-hours and a half with the Dutch 36-gun frigate Brill, to whom he did not strike until he had had 103 of his people killed and wounded, and further opposition was impossible. He afterwards commanded the Minerva 38, Invincible 74, and Juste 84. In the Invincible he bore a conspicuous part in the battle of 1 June, 1794, and for his conduct on the occasion was presented with a gold medal. He was nominated a Colonel of Marines in 1790, a Rear-Admiral in Feb. 1799, a Vice-Admiral in April, 1804, a full Admiral in July, 1810, and in May, 1820, a G.C.B. He was for some time Master-General of the Ordnance in Ireland, and died Senior Admiral of the Red 2 Feb. 1836.