A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Petley, John
PETLEY. (Retired Commander, 1843. f-p., 21; h-p., 33.)
John Petley entered, the Navy, 4 Feb. 1793, as Midshipman, on board the Suffolk 74, Capts. Robt. Lambert and Pulteney Malcolm, employed at first in the Channel and afterwards in the East Indies; where he was nominated, 21 Aug. 1798, Acting-Lieutenant of the Centurion 50, Capt. John Sprat Rainier. Under Capt. Lambert.he assisted, in 1795-6, at the reduction of Ceylon, Amboyna, Banda, &c. He was confirmed a Lieutenant, 4 Aug. 1799, into the Intrepid 64, Capt. Wm. Hargood, also in the East Indies; and subsequently appointed – 28 June, 1801, to the Daedalus 36, Capt. Wm. Waller, with whom he returned to England in 1803 – 16 Nov. in that year, to the Atalante 16, Capt. Joseph Ore Masefield, with whom he cruized in the Channel until Oct. 1805, when a wound he had received in the eye obliged him to be sent to the Hospital at Plymouth – 4 Feb. 1806, to the command of a Signal station in co. Waterford, which he retained until Oct. 1809 – and, in Feb. 1810, to the Impress service at Gravesend. In April, 1814, he was placed on half-pay. He became a Retired Commander on the Junior List 30 July, 1840; and on the Senior 23 Dec. 1843.