Byron Drury

Admiral Byron Drury (1815–1888) was a British naval officer.

Biography

Drury was born in Harrow on the Hill, the son of Rev. Henry Drury, of Harrow School; at which place he, and his father, Dr. Drury, were masters for about 70 years.

Byron Drury entered the Royal Naval College in 1828; and embarked, 13 August 1830, as a Volunteer, on board HMS ''Aetna'' surveying vessel, under the command of Captain Edward Belcher. He afterwards served for upwards of three years, latterly as a midshipman, in HMS ''Rainbow'', under Captain Sir John Franklin, on the Mediterranean station; and, joining next HMS ''Racehorse'' under Captain Sir James Everard Home, took an active part, as mate, in the siege of Pará in Brazil in 1835, where he was for several days in action with the enemy’s batteries. Landing at night he conducted over 200 Brazilians to the beach for embarkation from the midst of the insurgents. He was also involved in surveying the Pará River.

Drury was with Sir Gordon Bremer, in HMS ''Alligator'', he subsequently assisted in surveying the harbour at Port Essington, in South Australia, during the formation of that place into a settlement.

On 30 November 1839 he became an acting-lieutenant by which time HMS ''Alligator'' was in Indian waters. He was engaged in most of the hostilities against the Chinese. He commanded a division of boats at the first capture of Canton in 1841, For his services he received the China medal, and officially promoted, by commission dated 8 June 1841.

On 6 July 1841 he transferred to HMS ''Calliope'' under Captain Augustus Leopold Kuper While in ''Calliope'', he proved to be particularly useful by his valuable exertions in surveying and sounding the channels in the Yang-tse-Kiang, preparatory to the ascent of the British fleet to Nanking.

Drury’s next appointments was on 30 September 1843, to the steamer HMS ''Shearwater'', under Captain Charles Gepp Robinson, which was employed in surveying the west coast of Scotland. On 10 February 1845 he transferred to HMS ''Herald'', under Captain Henry Kellett, fitting for the Pacific. He was superseded from the latter ship on promotion to the rank of Commander on 22 May 1845. In February 1846, he returned to ''Shearwater'' and continued to work on the survey of the west coast of Scotland.

In December 1850 he took command of HMS ''Pandora'', which was employed from 20 until June 1856 surveying the coasts of New Zealand, continuing the work of John Lort Stokes in . He was thanked and recommended to the Admiralty by the Governor, Sir George Grey. On leaving the colony he received a testimonial and a service of plate from the Chamber of Commerce and a portion of the inhabitants of Auckland. He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

He was promoted to captain in 1857 and retired. He was promoted to captain in 1866, to rear-admiral in 1875 and vice-admiral in 1879.

Drury died in Cheltenham in November 1888, and there is a memorial to his death in St Mary's, Harrow on the Hill.

Family

He married, 9 June 1846, Helen Stewart (died 1881), daughter of Robert Morris of Moorburn, Ayrshire.

Legacy

Drury Inlet in the Queen Charlotte Strait region of the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada, extending west from Wells Passage to the northwest of North Broughton Island, northwest of the town of Port Hardy is named after him.

As captain of , he took part in the survey of New Zealand that led to the publication of the ''New Zealand Pilot''. This included Manukau Harbour in 1853. - nearby Drury, New Zealand is named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drury, Byron
1815 births
1888 deaths
People from Harrow, London
Royal Navy admirals