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Captain Sir Richard Spencer KCH (9 December 1779 – 24 July 1839) the son of Richard Spencer, a London merchant.〔Australian Encyclopaedia, Vol VIII; Angus & Robertson Ltd for Grolier Society of Australia PL (1958) Editor-in-Chief Alec H Chisholm〕 He was a sea captain of the Royal Navy who served in a number of battles, particularly against the French. Later in life he settled in Albany, Western Australia and was appointed Government Resident in 1833. He was born in Southwark, in London's dockland, and died at Strawberry Hill Government Farm, Mira Mar in Albany, Western Australia. ==Naval career== He joined the ship's complement of the 38-gun frigate ''HMS Arethusa'', in 1793, as captain's servant. He joined the 74-gun in 1794. He took part in the 3rd Battle of Ushant, also known as the Glorious First of June, in 1794. He transferred to the after she was captured in the battle. He was wounded in action on 23 June. Spencer was appointed a midshipman in 1795 and moved to , a 16-gun sloop, under Robert Larkan. He went with Larkan to the latter's new command, the 20-gun , in September 1797. In 1799, Spencer was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. He was commissioned into , a 100-gun ship of the line. However, she blew up in an accident before he could join her. He joined the 80-gun ''Guillaume Tell'', one of the few French ships to escape Nelson at the Battle of the Nile. She had, however, subsequently been captured. She was then renamed ''HMS Malta''. He then joined the sloop , as lieutenant to the captain. This vessel supported the campaign to oust Napoleon's troops from Egypt. Spencer was captured in Genoa in 1803, having been put ashore after hostilities had again broken out after the Treaty of Amiens. He escaped in the Danish vessel ''Enighiden'' and was rescued by . From here, he was transferred to , Nelson's flagship in the Mediterranean. He gave Nelson what information he had gleaned from his stay in Genoa. Nelson appointed him to command the captured French 12-gun privateer schooner ; her name was changed to HMS ''Crafty''. He was injured by an oar on board the ''Craftys jolly boat, which may have left a permanent mark on his health. He did not take part in the Battle of Trafalgar but he had lost a useful friend in Nelson. In 1806, he captured vessels running sulphur from Sicily to Toulon, France, for making gunpowder. He took part in the Battle of Maida, in which his vessel harassed the retreating French army.〔The Battle of Maida gave rise to the name Maida Vale, a suburb of London.〕 By successful diplomacy, he obtained the release of Christian slaves from the Dey of Algiers. He personally saved his ship from accidental destruction by the much larger ''HMS Eagle'', in Valletta harbour. He had to surrender his ship to three Spanish privateers, in 1807. He was later cleared by court martial for the loss of ''Crafty'', but was reprimanded for having lost contact with , with which he had been in company, and for staying too long at anchor in the harbour where the Spanish found him.〔Hepper (1994), p.118.〕 He next was involved in action against the Dutch, in the East Indies. He was promoted to Commander on 8 April 1808 and given command of ''Samarang'', in which he participated in the capture of Amboyna and captured Pulo Ay. He was made post captain on 25 July 1810 and then on 18 August took command of . Prize money acquired during his successful career, enabled him and his family to settle down, after the end of hostilities, in 1815. He retired from the Navy during 1817 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Richard Spencer (Royal Navy officer)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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