Charles Leonard Irby (9 October 1789 – 3 December 1845) was an officer of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

who saw service during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

and the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...

. He undertook a tour of Europe and the Middle East between 1816 and 1818.

Early life

Born on 9 October 1789, he was sixth son of

Frederick Irby, 2nd Baron Boston Frederick Irby, 2nd Baron Boston (1749–1825) was an English peer, landowner, and courtier. Early life Frederick Irby was born on 9 June 1749, the son of William Irby, 1st Baron Boston and Albinia Selwyn. He was educated at Eton College. He gra ...

, and brother of

Frederick Paul Irby Rear Admiral Frederick Paul Irby (18 April 1779 – 24 April 1844) was a British Royal Navy officer and Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk. Birth Frederick Irby was born on 18 April 1779, the second son of Frederick, 2nd Baron Boston and h ...

. He entered the navy in May 1801, and after serving in the North Sea and Mediterranean, at the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is ...

, the capture of Montevideo in 1807, and in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

, was promoted lieutenant on 13 October 1808. He then served at the

invasion of Isle de France The Invasion of Isle de France was a complicated but successful British amphibious operation in the Indian Ocean, launched in November 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars. During the operation, a substantial military force was landed by the Royal ...

, and on the coast of North America. On 7 June 1814 was promoted to the command of , in which he took part in the

battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815 between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the Frenc ...

Tour in the Middle East

Poor health compelled him to resign the command in May 1815; and in the summer of 1816 he left England in company with an old friend and messmate, Captain James Mangles, with the intention of making a tour on the continent. The journey was extended beyond the original plan. They visited Egypt, and, going up the Nile, in the company of

Giovanni Baptista Belzoni Giovanni Battista Belzoni (; 5 November 1778 – 3 December 1823), sometimes known as The Great Belzoni, was a prolific Italian explorer and pioneer archaeologist of Egyptian antiquities. He is known for his removal to England of the seven-tonn ...

and

Henry William Beechey Henry William Beechey (1788/89 – 4 August 1862) was an English painter and explorer. His father was the painter Sir William Beechey, RA and his stepmother was Anne Jessop.John Wilson, 'Beechey, Sir William (1753–1839)', Oxford Dictionary ...

, explored the temple at

Abu Simbel Abu Simbel is a historic site comprising two massive rock-cut temples in the village of Abu Simbel ( ar, أبو سمبل), Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. It is situated on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about ...

; afterwards, they went across the desert and along the coast, with a visit to

Baalbek Baalbek (; ar, بَعْلَبَكّ, Baʿlabakk, Syriac-Aramaic: ܒܥܠܒܟ) is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In Greek and Roman ...

and the cedars, and reached

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

, where they met

William John Bankes William John Bankes (11 December 1786 – 15 April 1855) was an English politician, explorer, Egyptologist and adventurer. The second, but first surviving, son of Henry Bankes MP, he was a member of the Bankes family of Dorset and he had Sir Ch ...

and Thomas Legh. Together they visited

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, as few Europeans had done at that period. The party travelled to

Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early secon ...

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

, down the

Jordan valley The Jordan Valley ( ar, غور الأردن, ''Ghor al-Urdun''; he, עֵמֶק הַיַרְדֵּן, ''Emek HaYarden'') forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. Unlike most other river valleys, the term "Jordan Valley" often applies just to ...

, and so to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. They afterwards passed round the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Ban ...

, and through Palestine. At

Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...

they embarked in a Venetian brig for Constantinople; but falling ill with dysentery, they were landed at Cyprus for medical assistance. In the middle of December 1818 they shipped on board a vessel bound for Marseilles, which they reached after a passage of 76 days.

Later life

In August 1826 Irby was appointed to command the sloop HMS ''Pelican'' in the eastern Mediterranean, where she was employed in the suppression of piracy. On 2 July 1827 he was posted to HMS ''Ariadne'', but was not relieved from the command of the ''Pelican'' till the end of September. After the

battle of Navarino The Battle of Navarino was a naval battle fought on 20 October (O. S. 8 October) 1827, during the Greek War of Independence (1821–29), in Navarino Bay (modern Pylos), on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, in the Ionian Sea. Allied f ...

he was appointed by

Sir Edward Codrington Sir Edward Codrington, (27 April 1770 – 28 April 1851) was a British admiral, who took part in the Battle of Trafalgar and the Battle of Navarino. Early life and career The youngest of three brothers born to Edward Codrington the elder (1732 ...

to bring home HMS ''Genoa'', whose captain Walter Bathurst had been killed, which he paid off at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

in January 1828. Irby saw no further naval service, and died at

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...

on 3 December 1845.

Works

Letters of the tour party were collected, and privately printed in 1823 as ''Travels in Egypt and Nubia, Syria, and Asia Minor, during the years 1817 and 1818''. In 1844, they were published as volume no. 7 of Murray's "Colonial and Home Library".

Family

Irby married, in February 1825, Frances, a sister of his friend James Mangles, and left children.

Notes

External links

* * * Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Irby, Charles Leonard 1789 births 1845 deaths Royal Navy officers English explorers Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Royal Navy personnel of the War of 1812 Holy Land travellers Younger sons of barons British military personnel of the Greek War of Independence Abu Simbel