Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

John Pender Paynter R.N. (1788–1856) of Trekenning House,

St Columb Major St Columb Major is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Often referred to locally as ''St Columb'', it is approximately southwest of Wadebridge and east of Newquay Ordnance Survey: Landran ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, was an officer of the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

noted for his services during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. In 1815 Paynter was appointed Flag Lieutenant to

Lord Exmouth Viscount Exmouth, of Canonteign in the County of Devon, is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom. History The title was created in 1816 for the prominent naval officer Edward Pellew, 1st Baron Exmouth. He had already been created a baro ...

on HMS Boyne. In 1816 during the Bombardment of Algiers, Paynter was sent ashore in an attempt to secure the release of Christian slaves and to demand the release from custody of a Colonel Macdonald, the English

Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

but was himself seized by the

Dey Dey (, from ) was the title given to the rulers of the regencies of Algiers, Tripolitania,Bertarelli (1929), p. 203. and Tunis under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 onwards. Twenty-nine ''deys'' held office from the establishment of the deylicate ...

and lodged in the Black Hole. However, the menacing attitude assumed by the British Fleet assured his release.''Boskenna and the Paynters'' page 25

Naval career

He entered the Royal Navy, 1804 as first class volunteer in and was made midshipman August of the same Year; was employed in the blockade of Brest up to January, 1806 when he joined HMS ''Indefatigable''; took part in Lord Cochrane's attack upon the French fleet in the Aix Roads April, 1809; joined the ''San Josef'' again in February the following year and joined as lieutenant, where he took part in several bombardments on the coast of

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

; he contributed to the destruction 16 May 1813 of the

xebec A xebec ( or ), also spelled zebec, was a Mediterranean sailing ship that originated in the barbary states (Algeria), it was used mostly for trading. Xebecs had a long overhanging bowsprit and aft-set mizzen mast. The term can also refer to a ...

''Fortune'' lying in the harbour of Cavalarie; in the following winter drove on shore in Calvi Bay the French store-ship ''Balleine'' and a large national schooner. In 1814 Lieutenant Paynter proceeded to America and was present at the capture of Fort Washington and the

capitulation of Alexandria The Capitulation of Alexandria in September 1801 brought the French invasion of Egypt and Syria to an end. Background French troops, who had been abandoned by Napoleon Bonaparte who left for France never to return, had been defeated by British ...

up the Patuxent: On his return to England in 1816, Paynter was advanced to commander.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paynter, John Pender Royal Navy officers 1788 births 1856 deaths Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Sailors from Cornwall Royal Navy personnel of the Bombardment of Algiers (1816) Royal Navy personnel of the War of 1812

Naval career

See also

References