A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Ramsden, Frank
RAMSDEN. (Commander, 1826. f-p., 15; h-p., 24.)
Frank Ramsden was born 28 March, 1797. This officer entered the Navy, 19 March, 1808, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Tigre 74, Capt. Benj. Hallowell, employed at first in the Channel and afterwards in the Mediterranean, where, with the exception of a short attachment, towards the close of 1811, to the Royal William, flag-ship of Sir Roger Curtis at Spithead, he continued employed as Midshipman in the Royal George 100 and Blake 74, each bearing the flag of the above-named officer, then Rear-Admiral Hallowell, Caledonia 120, flag-ship of Sir Edw. Pellew, and Malta 84, bearing the flag again of Rear-Admiral Hallowell, until Feb. 1815. In the Tigre he united, in Oct. 1809, in the pursuit which led to the self-destruction, near Cape Cette, of the French ships-of-the-line Robuste and Lion; and witnessed the capture and destruction, by the boats of a squadron, of several armed and other vessels in the Bay of Rosas, detailed in our memoir of the present Sir Augustus W. J. Clifford. In the Malta he was present at the siege of Tarragona, and in different operations on the coast of Catalonia, in 1813. After serving with Sir John Duckworth in the Impregnable 104, and again with Rear-Admiral Hallowell in the Royal Sovereign 100 and Tonnant 80, on the Plymouth and Cork stations, he was promoted, 7 Nov. 1818, to the rank of Lieutenant. His subsequent appointments were – 6 Dec. 1822, to the Prince Regent 120, bearing the flag of Admiral Hallowell at the Nore – and, 11 March and 23 June, 1823, and 21 Aug. 1825, to the Isis 50, Spartiate 76, and Wellesley 74, all flag-ships of Sir Geo. Eyre, with whom he served as Signal-Lieutenant (in the Spartiate and Wellesley) on the South American station, until advanced to his present rank 15 Dec. 1826. He has since been on half-pay.
Capt. Ramsden married, 27 Aug. 1835, Elizabeth, third daughter of the Rev. Dr. Smith, Prebendary of Dublin, by whom he has issue two sons.