Royal Naval Biography/Boteler, Henry

by John Marshall

Layout 2

HENRY BOTELER, Esq.
[Commander.]

Second surviving son of the late William Boteler, Esq., F.S.A., of Eastry, co. Kent, by his second wife, Mary, daughter of Captain John Harvey, who commanded the Brunswick 74, and was mortally wounded on the glorious 1st of June, 1794.^[1] Mr. Henry Boteler entered the navy in Oct. 1804, as midshipman on board the Agamemnon 64, commanded by his maternal uncle, Captain (now Vice-Admiral Sir John) Harvey, under whom he served in that ship and the Canada 74, principally employed on the Cadiz and West India stations, until the latter ship was paid off, at Chatham, in Jan. 1808. During his first cruise, he witnessed the capture of four Spanish merchantmen, laden with sugar, cochineal, indigo, coffee, &c., and having on board specie to a very considerable amount. In the following year, he was present at the capture of two Spanish line-of-battle ships, by the fleet under Sir Robert Calder.^[2]

On leaving the Canada, Mr. Boteler joined the Orion 74, Captain Sir Archibald C. Dickson, attached to the Baltic fleet; in which ship he continued until June 1809, when he sailed from Spithead, in the Donegal 74, Captain E. P. Brenton, to rejoin his uncle, then commanding the Leviathan 74, off Cadiz. In Oct. following he witnessed the destruction, by their own crews, of two French line-of-battle ships, between Cette and Frontignan.^[3] In Mar. 1811, he followed Captain Harvey into the Royal Sovereign, first rate, employed in the blockade of Toulon; and on that ship being ordered home, in Nov. following, he was received on board the Caledonia 120, bearing the flag of Sir Edward Pellew (afterwards Viscount Exmouth), from whom he received his first commission, bearing date Sept. 18th, 1812.

After serving for a short time as supernumerary lieutenant under the flag of Sir Edward, Mr. Boteler joined the Scout 18, Captain Alex. R. Sharpe, in which sloop he continued until Aug. 1813; and then exchanged with the first lieutenant of the Nautilus 18, Captain Thomas Dench. In Dec. same year, his health requiring change of climate, he again exchanged, into the Eclair 18, Captain John Bellamy, in which sloop he returned home, and was subsequently employed on the Irish station. His last employment afloat was, Aug. 22d, 1815, to be senior lieutenant of the Antelope 50, fitting out at Portsmouth, for the flag of his uncle, then about to assume the chief command on the Leeward Islands station, from whence he returned to England, and was put out of commission, in April 1819, at which period he had been rather more than fourteen years and a half in constant and active employment. He obtained his present rank on the 12th Aug. 1819; and is now an Inspecting Commander of the Coast Guard.

This officer married, in Dec. 1829, Henrietta, youngest daughter of the late Alan Bellingham, Esq., of Castle Bellingham, county Louth, Ireland. One of his brothers, Lieut.-Colonel Richard Boteler, R.E., served under the Duke of Wellington throughout the whole of the Peninsular war, during which he was wounded on three several occasions. He latterly commanded the Royal Engineers at Halifax, N.S., from whence he was returning home, passenger on board H.M. packet Calypso, when that vessel met with her untimely fate, early in 1833^[4]. Another brother, Thomas, who was first lieutenant and assistant-surveyor in the Barracouta sloop, Comm. Vidal, during the extensive survey executed on the coasts of Africa, under Captain W. F. Owen, in the years 1822, 3, 4, 5, and 6; and who, under the auspices of his present Majesty, when Lord High Admiral, was appointed to the command of the Hecla sloop, for the purpose of examining the coasts, rivers, and harbours included between Cape Spartel and the line, as also of the islands in the Bight of Biafra, died near the Calabar river, Nov. 28th, 1829, having been carried off, together with the greater part of his officers and crew, by the malignant fever peculiar to these latitudes^[5]. His surviving brothers are – John Harvey, a commander in the royal navy; – Edward, fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, M.A., curate of Cliffe rectory, near Rochester; – and Robert, a first lieutenant, R.E. One of his sisters, Eliza, is married to the Rev. Charles James Burton, M.A., vicar of Lydd, co. Kent.

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1. See Vol. I. Part II, note [1] at p. 613. The Botelers were resident at Eastry for many generations until in 1814, only four years previous to his demise, the above mentioned gentleman, who was the last heir male of the family, both of Heronden and Eastry, went to reside at Canterbury. Throughout his life, he was much attached to the study of antiquities, and, he made considerable collections for the history of his native parish, and the neighbourhing parts of East Kent. The substance of these collections was communicated by him to Mr. Hasted, who acknowledged, in the most handsome manner, the assistance he received from him in the compilation of his “History of Kent.” As a further testimony of such assistance, Mr. Hasted dedicated the ninth volume of the second edition of that work to Mr. Boteler, stating that it was to him that the public were in a great measure indebted for whatever pleasure and information they might receive from the perusal of that part of the history. Mr. Boteler, after he went to reside at Canterbury, obtained leave of the Archbishop and Archdeacon to arrange the papers in their Registry. In this employment, which he felt was of great public utility, at the same time that it was a source of great amusement to himself, he spent much of his time, until his increasing infirmities would no longer admit of his leaving home. By his indefatigable exertions, aided by his intimate knowledge of the history of the county, the papers in the Registry are now arranged in an order, probably not to be seen in any other Court. Mr. Boteler, was a man of strict honour and integrity. As a magistrate, he was zealous and active; as a husband, father, and friend, he was affectionate and kind; his loss will long be deplored by his widow and children, and regretted by a numerous and respectable circle of acquaintance. His first wife was Sarah, youngest daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Fuller, of Statenborough, in the parish of Eastry, Esq., by whom he had three sons, two of whom died infants, the other, William Fuller Boteler, Esq., barrister-at-law, is Recorder of Canterbury, and of the towns and ports of Sandwich, New Romney, and Deal. By his second marriage, Mr. Boteler had sixteen children, of whom five died young.

   In Hasted’s History of Kent (folio edit. iv. 219), this branch of the family of Boteler is particularly mentioned, and their descent traced from Pincerna, probably so called from his office of Chief Butler to King John, whence his successors assumed the name of Butler, alias Boteler, sometimes spelt Botiller, &c., and in allusion to their office bore for their arms one or more covered cups, differently placed and blazoned; also a grant of arms to Richard Boteler, in 1470, temp. Edw. IV.

2. See Vol. I. Part II. p. 405.
3. See Vol. I. Part I. p. 282 et seq.
4. A correct account of Lieut. Col. Boteler’s services appeared in the “United Service Journal” for April 1834.
5. Some lines to Comm. T. Boteler’s memory, by Sir Thomas Elmsley Croft, Bart, were published in the above periodical, Jan. 1831.