Mar. 1802, Mr. Shipley was appointed junior Lieutenant of that ship, then at Martinique, from whence he returned to England in the month of July following. The cause of his sudden departure from the Leeward Islands will be seen by the following private letter from another officer of the flag-ship:–
“If the public reports have not already informed you, your surprise will be great on receiving a letter from me, dated at Spithead, after having informed you very lately that we expected to remain some time longer in the West Indies.
“Would to God we had remained there for years, rather than that the melancholy circumstance which has caused our return had happened! In that climate even, so inimical to English constitutions, I should have felt myself happy, so long as I continued under the patronage of Admiral Totty. By the blessing of God, I there enjoyed a perfect state of health, although daily hearing of the death of some of my brave shipmates, most of them cut off in the prime of life. In the midst of this mortality, the Admiral, having been on shore for a few days while the ship was painting, was attacked by the fever, and hoping that the fresh air at sea might benefit him, he returned on board, and ordered the Captain to get under weigh. We cruised a day or two off the island, when the Admiral finding his end fast approaching, arranged the public affairs, and appointed a Commodore in the bay. On the 24th May, we sailed for England, and in a day or two we heard the joyful news that the Admiral was mending considerably, and that there were some hopes of his recovery; but Providence, alas! ordained it otherwise; for on the 2d of June, death seized upon its prey, and his noble spirit fled to the realms of bliss, to receive that reward his numberless virtues deserved.”
In this manner did Great Britain lose one of her bravest and most zealous officers, society one of its greatest ornaments, and Lieutenant Shipley a sincere friend and patron. The remains of Rear-Admiral Totty were interred in the garrison chapel at Portsmouth, attended by all the commissioned officers at that place; the Port-Admiral and Lieutenant-Governor acting as chief mourners.
Notwithstanding Lieutenant Shipley’s health had been greatly injured by the baneful climate of Martinique, we find him, on the renewal of hostilities, in 1803, proceeding to the same station with strong recommendations from Earl St. Vincent, Lord Bridport, and several other distinguished characters, to the late Sir Samuel Hood, whose regard and affection he also soon won, and retained to the day of his death.
