Royal Naval Biography/Thompson, Henry Clements
HENRY CLEMENTS THOMPSON, Esq.
Knight of the Swedish Military Order of the Sword.
[Commander.]
Lost an arm during the French revolutionary war; obtained the rank of lieutenant in 1802; commanded the boats of the Merlin sloop, Captain Edward P. Brenton, at the destruction of a French privateer, near Gravelines, Oct. 27th, 1803; and was presented with the Order of the Sword, by Gustavus Adolphus IV., for his distinguished services on the Baltic station, in Aug. 1808. His promotion to the rank of commander took place on the 19th of the ensuing month.
In consequence of interesting himself too arduously in the election contests of Grantham and Barnstaple, in which Sir Manasseh Lopez was also concerned, this officer latterly became greatly embarrassed in his circumstances, and was obliged at length to seek relief under the Insolvent Debtors’ Act. He was accordingly committed to the King’s Bench Prison, on the 11th Mar. 1824; and he died there, of apoplexy, on the 22d May following.