A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Rabett, George William
RABETT. (Lieut., 1826. f-p., 21; h-p., 16.)
George William Rabett is second son of the late Reginald Rabett, Esq., of Bramfield Hall, Suffolk, by Mary, daughter of the late Matthias Kerrison, Esq., of Broom Hall and Hoxne Hall, in the same co., and sister of the present Lieut.-General Sir Edw. Kerrison, Bart., K.C.B., G.C.H., M.P., Colonel of the 14th Light Dragoons, and Recorder of Eye. His maternal aunt married Sir Ralph Blois, Bart.; his elder and only brother, the Rev. Reginald Rabett, A.M., of Bramfield Hall, Vicar of Thomton-cum-Bagworth, co. Leicester, married a daughter of Rich. Bickerton, Esq., of Rhoden, co. Salop, a relative of Admiral Sir Rich. Bickerton, Bart.; and his sister, Mary, married the present Viscount Maynard. Lord Lieutenant, Vice-Admiral, and Custos Rotulorum for co. Essex. Through his connexion with the latter nobleman, Lieut. Rabett is uncle of the Hon. Charles Henry Maynard, of the Royal Horse Guards, who married Lady Frances Murray, sister of the present Duke of Atholl, and niece of the Duke of Northumberland, Captain R.N.; and uncle also of the Hon. Mrs. Capel, sister-in-law of the Earl of Essex. The family of Rabett is of Saxon origin, and one of the longest seated in co. Suffolk, where members of it served at various times as High Bailiffs and Sheriffs, and at an early period (as far back as the reign of Edward IV.) returned Members to Parliament for Dunwich.
This officer entered the Navy, 18 Dec. 1810, on board the Galatea 42, Capt. Woodley Losack; and on 20 May, 1811, was present as Midshipman (while cruizing off Madagascar in company with the Astrea and Phoebe, frigates about equal in force to the Galatea, and 18-gun brig Racehorse) in a long and trying action with the French 40-gun frigates Rénommée, Clorinde, and Néréide, in which the Galatea, besides being much cut up in her hull, masts, and rigging, sustained a loss of 16 men killed and 46 wounded. After participating in much active service on the Cape of Good Hope and East India stations, and also on the coast of France, where he assisted in cutting-out and destroying many vessels, and was often involved in action with the enemy’s batteries, particularly between Havre-de-Grace and Cape La Hogue, he removed, in Aug. 1813, to the Cydnus 38, Capt. Fred. Langford. In that frigate, which was at first employed off Brest and as a cruizer in the Bay of Biscay, he contributed to the capture, 4 March, 1814, of the Bunker’s Hill American privateer of 14 guns and 86 men, and, in the course of the same year, attended the expedition against New Orleans. During the operations connected with the attack on that place he was actively engaged on shore with the army, and aided in storming a strong battery on the right bank of the Mississippi. He had previously assisted at the blockade of Carthagena. He closed his war services by enacting a part at the storming and capture of Fort Bowyer, Mobile. In April, 1816, Mr. Rabett joined the Malta 84, Capt. Thos. Gordon Caulfeild; and on 6 Nov. in the same year he passed his examination at the Royal Naval College. In Jan. 1818, at which period he had been for eight months employed in the North Sea on board the Florida 24, Capt. Chas. Sibthorpe John Hawtayne, he passed his examination for seamanship on board the Northumberland 74, at Sheerness. In May and Nov. of the same year he joined, first the Carnation 18, and then the Tamar 26, both commanded by Capt. Hon. John Gordon, with whom he served on the Newfoundland station until paid off. In Feb. 1820, after having been wrecked on the coast of Labrador and been for several months frozen up at Newfoundland, he was received on board the Impregnable 104, bearing the flag of Lord Exmouth at Plymouth, where he was transferred to the Britannia 120, bearing that of Hon. Sir Alex. Cochrane. He next, in Oct. 1823 and Feb. 1825, joined the Sybille 48, Capt. Sam. John Brooke Pechell, and Owen Glendower 42, bearing the broad pendant of Commodore Hood Hanway Christian, with whom he sailed, as Admiralty Mate, to the Cape of Good Hope. Volunteering, on his arrival, to assist in surveying the shores of Africa, he was nominated for that purpose Acting-Lieutenant of the Leven 24, Capt. Wm. Fitzwilliam Owen. He was confirmed in his present rank 9 Jan. 1826, and subsequently appointed – 18 June, 1827, to the Mosquito 10, Capts. Geo. Bohun Martin and Chas. Bentham, with whom he served until Aug. 1829 – 1 Sept. 1830, as First, on promotion, to the Herald yacht – and 1& Feb. and 2 Dec. 1831, as a Supernumerary, to the Spartiate 76, and Victory 104, each bearing the flag of Sir Thos. Foley at Portsmouth. In the Mosquito he fought at the battle of Navarin, assisted at the capture of three piratical brigs,[1] each mounting 10 guns with a complement of 84 men, served with Count Capo d’Istria at the taking of the Acropolis at Corinth, and assumed a share in a variety of other important operations. In the Herald, although with his name on the books of the Spartiate and Victory, he remained, the greater part of the time as officer in charge, until 1833. During that period he had opportunities of becoming First-Lieutenant of the Volage 28, Pearl 20, Dispatch 18, and Magicienne 24, but, considering his position in the yacht to be one that ensured promotion, he felt bound to decline them. A change, however, in the administration caused him to be superseded, unrewarded with the boon he coveted; and he has ever since remained on half-pay.
In Sept. 1831 Lieut. Rabett was invested, by Sir Thos. Foley, with the temporary command of the Onyx tender, for the purpose of attending upon Her present Majesty and the Duchess of Kent. Independently of the services we have recorded, he appears to have taken part in others of a fatiguing and hazardous character; and to have been, on one occasion, severely hurt in the execution of his duty. In addition to the ships above-mentioned he was for a short time employed with Capt. Hyde Parker in the St. Vincent 120 and Asia 84. He is the inventor of the “Substitute Rudder” – a contrivance which, in case of the total loss or damage of a ship’s rudder, may be made to answer all the purposes of one without the assistance of either carpenter or shipwright. The Lieutenant married, 12 Sept. 1835, Lady Lucy Louisa Maria Turnour, daughter of the late and sister of the present Earl of Winterton, by whom he has issue. Agents – Messrs. Halford and Co.
- ↑ He was placed in charge of one of the vessels with only four men.