The Collection of Medals formed by the late Ron Wright

Naval General Service 1793-1840, 2 clasps, Martinique, Guadaloupe (Chas. Haydon, Master’s Mate.) the second clasp re-soldered to side-carriage, otherwise very fine £3,000-£3,600

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Medals formed by the late Ron Wright.

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Provenance: Sotheby, November 1986.

Charles Haydon is confirmed on the rolls as Master’s Mate aboard H.M.S. Cherub for Martinique, and in the same rate aboard H.M.S. Pompée for Guadaloupe.

Charles Haydon was born near Axminster, Devon, on 30 June 1793, and entered the Royal Navy as a First Class Volunteer aboard the Northumberland in October 1803. He remained in this ship for nearly two years and accompanied Lord Nelson’s Squadron during its famous pursuit of the combined Fleets. He was next appointed to the Ramillies and in this ship he witnessed, as Midshipman, the capture of the Marengo and the 40 gun frigate Belle Poule. Transferred to the Epervier in 1807, he saw a good deal of boat service and assisted in the reduction of the islands of St. Thomas and Ste. Croix. Between 1808-09, he served as Master’s Mate and Acting Lieutenant of the Cherub, and during that short period of time he contributed to the cutting-out of an American sloop which was protected by a heavy fire from the enemy’s batteries at Martinique, and further participated in the shore based operations at the capture of that island. He was also present in the Cherub’s yawl during an attempt to annihilate the French frigates Furieuse and Felicité in May 1809.

On leaving Cherub, in which ship his services had been marked by a ‘very conspicuous degree of gallantry, zeal and energy’, he became successively Master’s Mate of the Neptune and Pompée. In December 1809, he shared in the destruction of the 40-gun frigates Loire and Seine, which were moored in Anse La Barque and defended by numerous batteries, but soon afterwards returned to England due to ill-health.

Upon his return he was promoted to Lieutenant, 28 December 1810, and, almost immediately, sailed in the Stately for Cadiz, where, with a view to assisting in its defence, he joined the flotilla and was for nearly two years incessantly employed in a gun-boat. During that period he frequently landed for the purpose of storming the enemy’s batteries, under whose immediate fire he appears to have been not less than 16 times personally in action. For many days at a time he was compelled to subsist upon raw salt meat but clearly this did little to curb his activities, for on one occasion he was instrumental to the embarkation of a Spanish mortar which was eventually brought home as a trophy from the siege of Cadiz, 1810-12. This ‘imposing of all war trophies’ was originally displayed in St. James’s Park and quickly found itself a popular attraction with the sobriquet of ‘The Prince Regent’s Mortar’. It now stands at Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall.

In December 1812, he proceeded to the Mediterranean in the Barfleur, and held successive appointments in this theatre aboard the Tremendous, Prince of Wales and Guadeloupe, and was present at the reduction of Genoa in the latter vessel. In June 1815, he joined the Cephalus and in this ship was employed in co-operation with the Royalists on the coast of France and up the Gironde. In 1818 he joined his last sea-going appointment, the Carron, and in this vessel sailed for the East Indies, escorting en route Sir Ralph Darling (Governor of Mauritius), and continued to serve on the that station until wrecked in the Bay of Bengal, and with difficulty saved on 6 July 1820. He then, after encountering many perils, returned to England and was placed on half pay. He was promoted to Commander on the Retired List on 28 June 1851, and died in 1866.