William Proby, Lord Proby

Infobox Military Person
name= William Allen Proby, Lord Proby
lived= 19 June 1779 – 6 August 1804
placeofbirth=
placeofdeath=HMS "Amelia", at Surinam
placeofburial=St Michael's Cathedral, Bridgetown, Barbados


caption=
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom
serviceyears=1792? - 1804
rank=Post-Captain
branch=
commands=Fireship "Tarleton"
HMS "Peterel"
HMS "Danae" [cite web|url=http://www.generalist.org.uk/docs/navy1800.html|title=Commissioned ships of the Royal Navy, 1800|accessdate=2008-07-21]
HMS "Amelia"
unit=
battles=French Revolutionary Wars
Napoleonic Wars
awards=
laterwork=

William Allen Proby, Lord Proby (19 June 1779 - 6 August 1804), was a British Royal Navy officer and Whig politician.

Birth and Education

William Proby was the eldest son of Sir John Joshua Proby, 2nd Baron Carysfort (and later 1st Earl of Carysfort)cite web|url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p20824.htm#i208237|title=ThePeerage.com|accessdate=2008-07-21] , and his first wife Elizabeth (née Osbourne). He was educated at Rugby School, Warwickshire, England from 1788.

Royal Naval service

He was commissioned into the Royal Navy and was promoted quickly, probably due to the influence of his family; by 1798, at the age of 19, he had been promoted to Post-Captain and had commanded the fireship "Tarleton" and the sloop "Peterel". He became the captain of HMS "Danae" and in her suffered a mutiny on 14 March 1800; forty of the crew seized the ship off Le Conquet, Brest. The mutiny seems to have been caused by "Danae" being overburdened with French and American sailors conscripted unwillingly, and possibly a rather lax approach to discipline. ["The Devil Himself: The Mutiny of 1800", Dudley Pope, Secker & Warburg, London, 1987, ISBN 978-1-59013-035-3] ["Warships of the World to 1900", Lincoln P. Paine, Houghton Mifflin Books, 2000, ISBN 0395984149] Having secured the loyal crew below decks, the mutineers gave up the ship to the French 16-gun brig-corvette "Colombe", which sent over a boarding party. Lord Proby surrendered the ship with the words "To the French nation, but not to mutineers." He and the loyal members of his crew were exchanged on parole, having received favourable treatment from the French authorities. [William James , "The Naval History of Great Britain from the declaration of war by France in February 1793 to the accession of George IV in January 1820 : with an account of the origin and progressive increase of the British Navy (New edition in Six volumes)", Volume III, pp34-35, R Bentley, London, 1837.]

He took command of HMS "Amelia" in April of 1802, and in May sailed to Cork, Waterford and Dublin to land 150 discharged seaman. The summer was spent combatting smugglers between Berry Head and Mount's Bay, and by the end of August, "Amelia" had sailed for Den Helder with Dutch troops discharged from the British service. "Amelia" was based in Portsmouth for most of 1803, sailing to Jersey and the Downs, and blockading Dutch ports. Proby captured as prizes a French Chasse-marée in ballast on 23 May, and on 11 August the French privateer lugger "Alert".cite web|url=http://www.ageofnelson.org/MichaelPhillips/info.php?ref=0146|title=Age of Nelson website|accessdate=2008-07-21]

"Amelia" deployed to the Leeward Islands Station, notorious at the time for disease; Lord Proby died from yellow fever in Surinam in August 1804, aged 25, while in command of the frigate. He was buried in a vault in St Michael's Cathedral, Bridgetown, Barbados, where a tablet records his death.

Member of Pariliament

He represented Buckingham as a Whig in the House of Commons from 1802 until his death in 1804. His younger brother John succeeded him as Member of Parliament for Buckingham. ["The Gentleman's magazine", 1855, p.313.]

Title

From 1789, when his father was created Earl of Carysfort in the Peerage of Ireland, William Proby was styled as "Lord Proby". He died unmarried and his younger brother John succeeded to the Earldom in April 1828.

References