entered the
Navy
as a boy in
1750
, and was at
Plassey
(
1757
) and at the taking of
Pondicherry
(
1760
) while still a
midshipman
; he became
captain
c.
1770
. He had two sons, who attained high rank in the
navy
:
(
a
)
admiral
Sir
EDWARD
CAMPBELL
RICH
OWEN
(
1771
-
1849
),
who took part (as
commander
) in the
Walcheren expedition
of
1809
, was
knighted
in
1815
, was
vice-admiral
on the
East India Station
,
1828-32
, and in the
Mediterranean
,
1841-5
, became
admiral
in
1846
, and d.
8 Oct. 1849
.
(
b
)
viceadmiral
WILLIAM
FITZWILLIAM
OWEN
(
1773
-
1857
),
who was in the
‘First of June’
action of
1794
and at the
Spithead mutiny
of
1797
, after which he was commissioned. In the
1803-15
war he fought in many actions (he was
prisoner of war
1808-10
), but both then and afterwards, he was chiefly famed as a
hydrographer
; his charts were of high repute. He carried out surveys in many parts of the world. In
1847
he was given
flag rank
, and in
1855
retired, as
vice-admiral
. He d.
3 Nov. 1857
, in
New Brunswick
, which had long been his ‘shore’ residence, as he had acquired the lands there which belonged to his cousin
David
(1 (
b
) above).
