William Henry Whyte obituary

Royal Navy obituary in the Times newspaper

The following obituary for William Henry Whyte appeared in the Times newspaper.

*Obituary in the Times* newspaper**
Date	Obituary
11 September 1912	Admiral W.H. Whyte. Admiral William Henry Whyte, who died on Monday at Southsea, came of an ancient Irish Roman Catholic family, the Whytes of Loughbrickland, in county Down, who trace their descent from Walter Whyte, a follower of Strongbow, knighted for his courage and exploits by Henry II. In 1171. He was the third son of Captain Edward Whyte, R.N., and married, in 1880, Katherine Mary, the younger daughter of Mr. Thomas Segrave, of Cabra, county Dublin. One son is a lieutenant in the Navy, and the other a lieutenant in the Connaught Rangers. Admiral W.H. Whyte entered the Navy in May, 1841, and first saw service as a midshipman of the Cornwallis during the China War of 1840-42. The Cornwallis, of 72 guns, was sent out to replace the Wellesley, and hoisted the flag of Rear-Admiral Sir William Parker as Commander-in-Chief on the East Indies and China Station. In this vessel Whyte was present at the attack on Tsekee, a town a few miles up the river of that name, at which the Chinese had assembled a large flotilla of fire-rafts, as well as a considerable body of soldiers ashore. On March 15, 1842, General Sir Hugh Gough, with 850 men and a naval brigade of 400 from the Cornwallis and other ships, attacked and captured the town, and at the same time a flotilla of small craft and boats from the fleet engaged the Chinese vessels and destroyed them. Two months later, on May 18, Whyte was present at the capture of Chapoo, and on August 14 he was with the fleet at the storming of Nankin, which event finally forced the Chinese to sue for peace. Promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1848 and lieutenant in May, 1849, Whyte served in the latter capacity in the Desperate and Pylades, screw corvettes, in the Baltic in 1854-5, during the war with Russia. Three years later, on April 1, 1858, he was promoted to the rank of commander for his services in command of the Teazer, gun vessel, up the Scarcies River, West Coast of Africa, and on July 25, 1864, he was advanced to captain. He was the recipient of a good service pension from April, 1878, to January 3, 1881, on which latter date he received his promotion to flag rank. As an admiral his only service at sea was in the appointment of second-in-command of the Channel Squadron, which he held from May, 1884, to July, 1885. He became a vice-admiral in October, 1887, and an admiral in July, 1892, retiring on August 1 of the last-named year.

Top↑