William O'Bryen Drury
Vice-Admiral William O'Bryen Drury | |
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Vice-Admiral | |
Commands held | HMS Tickler HMS Squirrel HMS Trusty HMS Powerful HMS Neptune East Indies Station |
Battles/wars |
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Drury served as commander of the ship of the line HMS Powerful during the French Revolutionary Wars, during which he was heavily engaged at the Battle of Camperdown, at which a Dutch fleet was destroyed in 1797.[1]
Drury was promoted to Rear-Admiral of the Blue in April 1804,[2] and appointed as second-in-command of the Irish station on 17 December.[3] He was promoted to Rear-Admiral of the White in November 1805,[4] and Rear-Admiral of the Red in April 1808.[5] In July 1810 he was finally promoted to Vice-Admiral of the Blue.[6]
Drury was appointed as commander of the
In 1808 he commanded an expedition to occupy Macao a Portuguese colony; Portugal, a British ally, had recently been occupied by France. The fleet arrived in September 1808 and a detachment of troops were landed, but a lack of support from the Portuguese authorities and strong resistance from the Chinese government meant that the force was withdrawn before it caused a diplomatic crisis between Britain and China.[13]
Drury's command in the East Indies overlapped with that of
Family
In 1783. Drury married Letitia Preston Vallancey, daughter of General Charles Vallancey, [1726-1812] military surveyor and antiquary. Together were the parents of 7 daughters.
References
- ^ Haydn, Joseph (1851). "Admirals of Great Britain". Book of Dignities. pp. 272, 293.
- ^ "Admiralty-Office, April 24". London Courier and Evening Gazette. 25 April 1804.
- ^ "Portsmouth, December 22". Hampshire Chronicle. 24 December 1804.
- ^ London Gazette, 5 November 1805
- ^ London Gazette, 26 April 1808
- ^ London Gazette, 8 July 1810
- ^ "Port News". Salisbury and Winchester Journal. 2 September 1807.
- ^ "Port News". Salisbury and Winchester Journal. 21 September 1807.
- ^ "Extract from a Letter from Tranquebar". Madras Courier. 17 February 1808.
- ^ "Govt. Gazette". Government Gazette. 25 February 1808.
- ^ ""We have the pleasure to announce..."". Calcutta Gazette. 17 March 1808.
- ^ ""Yesterday afternoon arrived..."". Madras courier. 8 June 1808.
- S2CID 161472099.