The exceptional 5-clasp Naval General Service medal awarded to Admiral The Right Honourable Lord William FitzRoy, K.C.B., Royal Navy

Naval General Service 1793-1840, 5 clasps, 1 June 1794, 23 June 1795, Egypt, 4 Nov 1805, Martinique (Lord William Fitzroy, Capt.) small edge bruise, otherwise good very fine £16,000-£20,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Naval Medals from the Collection of the Late Jason Pilalas.

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Glendining’s, December 1969; Peter Dale Collection, July 2000.

Confirmed as Midshipman of Phaeton in Howe’s action; of San Pareil in Bridport’s; and of Seahorse at the capture of the French frigate Sensible in 1798. Lieutenant of Penelope at the surrender of Malta, and expedition to Egypt. Commanded the Aeolus in Strachan’s action on 4 November 1805, and at Martinique in 1809.

The Right Honourable Lord William FitzRoy was born on 1 June 1782, the third son of Augustus Henry, third Duke of Grafton, by his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Sir Richard Wrottesley, Bart.; and uncle both of the present Duke of Grafton and of Captain Robert FitzRoy, R.N. He entered the Navy on 21 April 1794, on board the Phaeton 38, Captains William Bentinck and Hon. Robert Stopford, one of Lord Howe’s frigates in the ensuing action of the 1st of June. He next joined the Leviathan 74, commanded by Lord Hugh Seymour, and, when with the same officer in the Sans Pareil 80, he took part in Lord Bridport’s action, 23 June 1795. After an occasional attachment to the Niger 32 ,Captain Edward James Foote, Phoenix 36, Captain Lawrence William Halsted, and Cambrian 40, Captain Hon. Arthur Kaye Legge, he rejoined Capt. Foote, in February 1798, on board the Seahorse, of 46 guns and 292 men; in which vessel we find him, off the island of Pantellaria, assisting at the capture, 27 June 1798, after a close action of eight minutes, a loss to the British of 2 men killed and 16 wounded, and to the enemy of 18 killed and 37 wounded, of the French frigate La Sensible, of 36 guns and 300 men. Being promoted to a Lieutenancy, 13 May 1800, in the Penelope 36, Captain Hon. Henry Blackwood, he witnessed the surrender of Malta, and attended the expedition to Egypt. On 31 October 1801, he became Acting-Commander of the Salamine sloop, and, being confirmed, 7 January 1802, in the Mutine, was afterwards employed, from 26 January 1803, until 29 February 1804, in command of the Fairy. As a Post-Captain, a rank he attained on 3 March in the latter year, Lord William FitzRoy appears to have commanded the Duquesne and Vanguard 74’s, Aeolus 32, and Macedonian 38, on the Jamaica, Channel, Irish, Halifax, and Lisbon stations; and, in the Aeolus, to have been present in Sir Rich. Strachan’s action, off Ferrol, 4 November 1805, and at the reduction of Martinique in February 1809. On 1 October 1809 he exchanged into the Squirrel 24, on the Halifax station, and soon afterwards returned to England. His next and last appointment was, about June 1810, to the Macedonian 38. In April 1811, he was dismissed the service by the sentence of a court-martial held at Lisbon, for oppressive and tyrannical conduct, in putting the master of that ship in irons. The latter officer was afterwards tried for contempt to his lordship, and not only dismissed the service, but rendered incapable of serving again as an officer. Lord FitzRoy was reinstated on 22 August following, though never again employed. He was nominated a C.B. on 4 June 1815, and a K.C.B. on 4 July 1840. Having been promoted to Rear-Admiral on 10 January 1837, he advanced to Vice-Admiral on 26 June 1847, and to Admiral in 1853. Admiral Sir William FitzRoy died at East Sheen, near Richmond, on 13 May 1857.