Royal Naval Biography/Colby, Thomas

by John Marshall

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THOMAS COLBY, Esq.
[Commander.]

Second son of an eminent surgeon, now deceased, by Mary Copplestone, a descendant of the very ancient Devonshire family of that name.

This officer was born at Torrington, co. Devon, in 1782; and entered the royal navy, in Mar. 1797, as midshipman, on board the Bedford 74, Captain Sir Thomas Byard; under whom he served at the battle of Camperdown, and (in the Foudroyant 80) at the defeat of Mons. Bompard, by Sir John B. Warren, off the N.W. coast of Ireland, Oct. 13th, 1798^[1]. We subsequently find him serving under the flag of Sir Charles Cotton, with whom he continued until the peace of Amiens, when he was sent to the East Indies, as an admiralty midshipman, in the St. Fiorenzo frigate. Captain Joseph Bingham. On the 18th Sept. 1804, being then in the Centurion 50, Captain James Lind, he assisted in successfully repelling an attack made upon that ship, by a French squadron, consisting of the Marengo 80, and two heavy frigates, under the command of Rear-Admiral Linois^[2]. On his return home, he was appointed a lieutenant of the Thunderer 74, Captain William Lechmere, by commission dated April 8th, 1805. On the 22d July following, he assisted at the capture of two Spanish line-of-battle ships, by the fleet under Sir Robert Calder^[3]. He also bore a part at the glorious battle of Trafalgar^[4]; and was slightly wounded in action with the Turks, during Sir John T. Duckworth’s operations against the Sublime Porte, in Feb. 1807. On the latter occasion, the Thunderer was commanded by Captain (now Sir John) Talbot.

During the ensuing campaign in Egypt, Lieutenant Colby was employed on the river Nile. In 1809, he proceeded to the West Indies, on Lord Mulgrave’s promotion list; but returned home from thence without advancement, in consequence of a change in the naval administration. After this, he was again sent, by Mr. Yorke, to the Mediterranean; and there promoted from the Prince of Wales 98, Captain John Erskine Douglas, to the command of a prize brig captured at Genoa, in April, 1814. This appointment was confirmed by the Admiralty on the 17th of the following month.

Commander Colby married, in April 1826, Mary, daughter of the Rev. John Palmer, of Torrington, and niece of the late Marchioness of Thomond. His eldest brother, James, a surgeon, died in 1819; his youngest, Henry, was the midshipman alluded to in Vol. III. Part II. p. 290, who perished on board a prize belonging to the Sheldrake sloop, Feb. 19th, 1809.

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1. See Vol. I. Part I. p. 150 et seq., and p. 170 et seq.
2. See Vol. II. Part II. pp. 874–877.
3. See Vol. I. Part I. p. 405.
4. See Id. p. 405.