Naval General Service 1793-1840, 1 clasp, Trafalgar (William Martin Midshipman.) edge...

Naval General Service 1793-1840, 1 clasp, Trafalgar (William Martin Midshipman.) edge nicks, good very fine £8,000-£12,000 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- William Martin was born at Glanmire, County Cork, on 3 December 1783 and entered the Royal Navy on 15 October 1799, under the auspices of General Myers, as First Class Volunteer in H.M.S. Dryad, 36 guns, under Captain Charles John Moore Mansfield, with whom he served until transferred, in H.M.S. Hercule, 74 guns, under Captain Solomon Ferris, lying at Portsmouth. He assisted during that period, at the capture of privateer Le Premier Consul, 14 guns and 150 men, and of a Swedish frigate mounting 34 guns. Rejoining Captain Mansfield, in 1803, in H.M.S. Minotaur, 74 guns, he witnessed the surrender, on 28 May 1803, of the French frigate La Franchise, 36 guns, and was present as Midshipman in the same ship during the major fleet action off Cape Trafalgar between the British fleet under the command of Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson and the Franco-Spanish fleet under the command of Vice-Admiral P. C. de Villeneuve on 21 October 1805. Minotaur’s Captain, Charles Mansfield, famously pledged to his crew that he would stick to any ship engaged 'till either she strikes or sinks - or I sink.' At the climax of the battle, he deliberately placed Minotaur between the damaged Victory and an attacking French ship; he was later awarded a Patriotic Sword and Gold Medal for this gallant act. Martin was promoted Lieutenant in H.M.S. Saturn, 74 guns, under Captain Lord Amelius Beauclerk, in August 1806, and was employed in this ship for nearly 18 months in the Mediterranean. From there he proceeded to H.M.S. Lion, 64 guns, under Captain Henry Heathcote, on 18 January 1808, and when in command of the launch of that ship he succeeded, in the vicinity of Manilla, in defeating five large piratical boats, carrying between them 20 small guns and about 200 men, after a desperate action of two hours, in which greater part of his crew, only 20 in number, were wounded. He saw further service from 20 March 1810 in H.M.S. Magnet, stationed, for the protection of the trade, off Heligoland and the German rivers; from 13 December 1810 in H.M.S. Aboukir, employed in the blockade of Flushing; from 11 February 1812 in H.M.S. Calliope, lying at Chatham; from 16 April 1812 to H.M.S. Ardent, armée-en-flûte, in which ship, after conveying troops to Bermuda, he was nearly lost in an awful gale in the Bay of Biscay, during which his presence of mind and courage were most conspicuous, leading him aloft when no other could be found to attempt it; from 3 March 1813 in H.M.S. Albion, fitting for service on the coast of North America; from 29 January 1814, as First Lieutenant of H.M.S. Sceptre, in which ship he returned home in time to participate in the grand naval review held at Spithead; from 29 July 1818, in H.M.S. Creole, in which ship he proceeded to the River Plate, where his nautical skill in a great measure saved the ship from wreck; and from 8 January 1819 in H.M.S. Amphion, a leaky old vessel, whose hand-pumps were obliged to be kept going during the whole of her passage home. On 18 November 1819, six months after the Amphion had been paid off, Martin was given the command of the gun-brig H.M.S. Clinker. While in that vessel on the Newfoundland station he was in discharge, from October 1820 to April 1821, of the important duties of Surrogate at Harbour Grace, where his impartial administration of justice in more than 300 cases that came before him for adjudication, gave so much satisfaction, that on his departure he was presented with a most flattering address signed by all the principal inhabitants. In the following summer he was ordered by Sir Chas. Hamilton, Governor of Newfoundland, to explore the Grand Esquimaux Inlet, and then to proceed to the northward in order to find out and communicate with the different stations of the Morovian missionaries on the coast of Labrador. These instructions he carried into effect in a complete and most successful manner. His conduct on arriving among the missionaries, after encountering many dangers and hardships, was such as to endear him greatly to them, and to elicit the earnest thanks of the Church of the United Brethren in England. His advent took place during their jubilee-year; and the occasion was the first of their having been visited by a man-of-war. Promoted Commander on 19 July 1821, he returned home in May 1822, and transferred to the Half-Pay List. Promoted Captain on the Retired List, he died in 1866. Sold with two small portrait miniatures of the recipient, both housed in oval glazed frames; and a photograph of the recipient taken in alter life, showing him wearing his Naval General Service Medal, this mounted in a a heavy gilt glazed display frame.