A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Scudamore, William James
SCUDAMORE. (Lieut., 1812. f-p., 39; h-p., 4.)
William James Scudamore was born 5 Aug. 1788.
This officer entered the Navy, 24 Aug. 1804, as Sec.-cl. Vol., on board the Agamemnon 64, Capt. John Harvey. After serving off Cadiz, in Sir Robt. Calder’s action, and in the Channel, he followed Capt. Harvey as Midshipman, in Sept. 1805, into the Canada 74, and sailed for the West Indies, In Dec. 1807 he joined the Cumberland 74, Capt. Hon. Philip Wodehouse, attached to the force in the Mediterranean; where, in Oct. 1809, he assisted in causing the self-destruction of the ships-of-the-line Robuste and Lion, and, in July, 1810, removed to the Leviathan 74, Capts. J. Harvey and Patrick Campbell. On 30 April, 1812, he was confirmed a Lieutenant (having acted for nearly three months as such) in the Termagant 20, Capts. Gawen Wm. Hamilton and John Lampen Manley; and while in that vessel, on the south coast of Spain, he commanded her boats at the capture and destruction of several forts and at the taking of Almeria. He also had the good fortune to save several nuns and inhabitants of the town of Xavia from being massacred by the French. In 1813-14 he witnessed the capture of Via Reggio and Genoa. After he left the Termagant he was employed – from 13 June to 14 Aug. 1814 in command, off Gibraltar and Cadiz, of gun-boat No. 25 – from 21 Jan. to 2 Sept. 1815, in the Rosario 10, Capt. Thos. Ladd Peake at Portsmouth – and from 3 Feb. 1818 until 22 March, 1821, in command of the Providence Revenue-cruizer. Since 3 Jan. 1822 he has been serving as an Acting-Inspecting-Commander and Chief Officer in the Coast Guard.
He married 6 June, 1817, and has issue nine children.