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

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 ...

who saw service 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 ...

and the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. 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, and brother of Frederick Paul Irby. 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 ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

, the capture of Montevideo in 1807, and in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...

, was promoted lieutenant on 13 October 1808. He then served at the invasion of Isle de France, 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.

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 and Henry William Beechey, explored the temple at

Abu Simbel Abu Simbel is a historic site comprising two massive Rock-cut architecture, rock-cut Egyptian temple, temples in the village of Abu Simbel (village), Abu Simbel (), Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. It is located on t ...

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

Baalbek Baalbek (; ; ) 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 1998, the city had a population of 82,608. Most of the population consists of S ...

and the cedars, and reached

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

, where they met William John Bankes and Thomas Legh. Together they visited

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

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

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, down the Jordan valley, and so to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. They afterwards passed round the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

, and through Palestine. At

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

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 he was appointed by Sir Edward Codrington 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 Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

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

References

External links

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