A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Thomas, George (b)
THOMAS. (Lieutenant, 1812. f-p., 23.)
George Thomas (b) was born in 1793 at Bristol. This officer entered the Navy, in 1804, as Midshipman, on board Le Renard of 18 guns and 121 men, Capt. Jeremiah Coghlan; in which vessel, stationed in the West Indies, he assisted at the destruction, 20 March, 1805, after a brisk action of 35 minutes, of Le Général Ernouf French privateer of 20 guns and 160 men; at the taking, 11 Oct. following, of La Bellone privateer of 4 guns and 50 men; and at the further capture, in May, 1806, at the end of a chase of three days and nights, of La Diligente national brig of 16 guns and 125 men. He continued employed with Capt. Coghlan as Master’s Mate in the Elk 18 (participating in the meanwhile in much active service in the Gulf of Mexico) until 1808; in the course of which year he was under the necessity, from the state of his health, of returning to England. In the early part of 1810, having recovered, he went back to the Elk, still on the West India station; whence he was soon again sent home in the Daedalus 32, Capt. Sam. Hood Inglefield. He served next with Sir Edw, Pellew in the Christian VII. 80 and Caledonia 120, at the blockade of Flushing and Toulon; and on 8 May, 1812, he was made Lieutenant into the Minstrel 20, Capt. John Strutt Peyton. With the boats of that ship under his orders he boarded and carried, beneath the batteries of Valencia, three vessels laden with shells for the relief of Tortosa; an exploit for which he obtained the thanks of the Commander-in-Chief. On the departure of the Minstrel for England he was transferred to the Ganymede 26, Capt. John Brett Purvis; in command of whose boats he was so severely wounded in the hip, in an attack upon a French privateer in the Grao of Murviedro, that he was obliged to repair to the Hospital at Gibraltar, and thence to invalid home. While serving subsequently, between Dec. 1813 and 1815, in the Erebus 18, Capt. David Ewen Bartholomew, on the coast of North America, he accompanied the expedition under the present Sir Jas. Alex. Gordon against Alexandria, took part in the unsuccessful attack upon Baltimore, and was present in the operations against New Orleans. While descending the River Potomac, on his return from Alexandria, and in action with the enemy’s batteries along the banks, he was again wounded. Since 11 Oct. 1834 he has been in command of a station in the Coast Guard.
In consideration of the wound he received in the boats of the Ganymede, Lieut. Thomas was allotted a pension of 91l 5s. per annum, 13 July, 1815. From 1817 until 1830 he was employed under Lord Cochrane in South America and in Greece; and his half-pay during that period was stopped. It was then, however, restored to him by William IV. He married in 1828, and has issue two sons and one daughter. Agents – Hallett and Robinson.