Royal Naval Biography/Frankland, Charles Colville
CHARLES COLVILLE FRANKLAND, Esq.
[Commander.]
A son of the late Rev. Roger Frankland, rector of Yarlington, and vicar of Dulverton, both in Somersetshire, a canon-residentiary of the cathedral church of St. Andrew, Wells, by Catherine, sister to Vice-Admiral Lord Colville.
This officer is a native of Bath. He became a student at the Royal Naval College towards the close of 1810; quitted that institution in the autumn of 1812; and first went to sea in 1813, as midshipman on board the Aquilon 32, commanded by his cousin, Captain William Bowles, with whom he returned home from South America, in la Ceres frigate, June 1814. He subsequently served under Captain (now Sir Willoughby T.) Lake, in the Magnificent 74, on the Jamaica station. In May 1816, he again sailed for Brazil and Rio de la Plata, in the Amphion frigate, Commodore Bowles, by whom he was made lieutenant into the Andromache 44, Captain William H. Shirreff, in July 1818. This appointment, however, was not confirmed at home until Mar. 26th, 1819; at which period he held the confidential situation of private secretary to his captain, then senior officer in the Pacific.
in April 1819, Lieutenant Frankland crossed the Andes and Pampas mountains, as the bearer of despatches to the Admiralty; and it is a remarkable circumstance, that, in Nov. and Dec. of the same year, he also crossed the Alps and Appennines. He remained on the European continent until April 1821, making the tour of France, Italy, and Switzerland; went to Ireland, as flag-lieutenant to his uncle. Lord Colville, in the month of Nov. following; obtained his present rank on the 26th April, 1825; and shortly afterwards, finding himself again an idle man, once more proceeded on his travels, making the tour of Holland, Belgium, the Rhine, Wirtemburg, Bavaria, the Danube, Tyrol, and Austria. In 1827, he made a journey from Vienna, through Hungary, Transylvania, Wallachia, Bulgaria, and Roumelia, to Constantinople; proceeded thence, through the Dardanelles, to the plains of Troy, Smyrna, Greece, Cyprus, Syria, Palestine, Alexandria, Malta, and Sicily; and returned to the Austrian capital through Italy, Istria, Carniola, and Styria. He has since published a personal narrative of this interesting journey, with many sketches.
Some account of Commander C. C. Frankland’s family will be found in p. 48.