her with perfect safety. The two cases were then removed from the gunwales, when she carried 6 men, but not so steady and safe as she had done nine with the cases lashed outside. Lord Exmouth, Sir William J. Hope, Sir Charles V. Penrose, Sir Pulteney Malcolm, and numerous other naval officers, think very highly of Captain Spencer’s plan; but Sir Robert Seppings, the surveyor of the navy, reports, that although “it may be used with effect in particular situations, he does not think it can be usefully employed in ships’ boats.”
Captain Spencer married, Aug. 31, 1812, Miss Anne Warden Liddon, of Charmouth, co. Dorset, by whom he has several children now living.
Agents.– Messrs. Stilwell.
VILLIERS FRANCIS HATTON, Esq.
[Post-Captain of 1812.]
Eldest son of George Hatton, Esq. formerly M.P. for Lisburne, co. Antrim, by Lady Isabella R. Seymour Conway, sixth daughter of Francis, first Marquis of Hertford.
This officer was born at Dromana, co. Waterford, in 1787; and he entered the naval service, under the patronage of his maternal uncle, Lord Hugh Seymour, in 1799. From that period, we find him serving as a midshipman on board the Sans Pareil 80, bearing his lordship’s flag, in the West Indies; Carnatic 74, Captain Charles V. Penrose; St. Fiorenzo frigate. Captain Joseph Bingham; and Trident 64, flag-ship of Vice-Admiral Rainier, until 1805, when he was appointed lieutenant of the Grampus 50, on the East India station. His commission was confirmed by the Admiralty, Jan. 31, 1806.
Lieutenant Hatton, having obtained leave of absence soon after his promotion, returned home in an Indiaman, and was next appointed to the Seagull brig, of 16 guns, on the North Sea station, where he displayed great zeal for the public service, often cruising in an open boat to intercept smugglers, and being repeatedly absent from his vessel for days together. Several of those illicit traders were captured, principally through his exertions. He became first of the Seagull
