A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Sotheby, Charles
SOTHEBY. (Rear-Admiral of the Blue, 1848. f-p., 21; h-p., 31.)
Charles Sotheby is eldest son of Wm. Sotheby, Esq., F.R.S., of Fairmead Lodge, co. Essex. This officer entered the Royal Naval Academy 5 Sept. 1795; and embarked, 31 March, 1798, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Alexander 74, Capt. Alex. John Ball, attached to the force in the Mediterranean; where he removed, 12 Dec. 1800, to the Foudroyant 80, flag-ship of Lord Keith, and was nominated, 21 Oct. 1801, Acting-Lieutenant of the Penelope 36, Capts. Hon. Henry Blackwood and Wm. Robt. Broughton. In the Alexander he was present as Midshipman at the battle of the Nile, at the capture of Le Généreux 74 and Ville de Marseilles store-ship, at the blockade and surrender of Malta, and on shore, as Aide-de-Camp to Capt. Ball, at the siege of the castle of St. Elmo; and in the Foudroyant he took an active part in the operations of 1801 in Egypt. Being confirmed a Lieutenant in the Penelope by a commission bearing date 25 Jan. 1802, he continued in that ship, in the Mediterranean and North Sea, until transferred, in 1803, to the Princess Royal 98, flag-ship in the Channel of Admirals Sawyer and Reynolds. His next appointments were – 25 April, 1807, to the Thetis 38, Capts. Wm. Hall Gage and Geo. Miller, under whom he took part in a variety of operations against the Turks – 18 Oct. 1808, to the Trident 64, as Flag-Lieutenant at Malta to Rear-Admiral Sir A. J. Ball – and, in March, 1809, to the acting command of the Pilot 18, which vessel, on her return from the Mediterranean, formed one of the advanced squadron in the expedition to the Scheldt. He was confirmed in the rank of Commander 8 Jan. 1810; was next, from 6 July in that year until posted 28 Feb. 1812, employed off Lisbon and again in the Mediterranean in the Latona 38, armée en flûte; and was afterwards appointed – 24 Aug. 1814, to the Slaney 20, lying in the River Medway – 1 Oct. 1814, to the Tamar 24, in which ship he served, on the Halifax, South American, and Cape of Good Hope stations, until 27 March, 1816 – and, 18 May, 1824, to the Seringapatam 46, fitting for the Mediterranean, where, during a stay of more than three years, he was very active in the suppression of piracy, and on one occasion, in May, 1825, forced the Bey of Rhodes by his spirited conduct to acknowledge an insult which had been offered to the British Consul. He attained Flag-rank 20 March, 1848.
Rear-Admiral Sotheby married first, 15 Feb. 1819, Hon. Jane Hamilton, third daughter of William, seventh Lord Belhaven and Stenton; and secondly, 18 Nov. 1830, Mary Anne, daughter of the late Admiral and Lady Mary Anne Sotheby, by whom he has issue.