Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Blackwood, 1st Baronet, whose memorial is in Killyleagh Parish Church, was an Irish officer of the British Royal Navy.
15 Facts About Henry Blackwood
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2.
Henry Blackwood was promoted lieutenant, commander, and to the rank of post captain.
3.
Henry Blackwood was then appointed to the frigate HMS Brilliant, of 28 guns.
4.
Early in 1799, Brilliant returned to England, and Henry Blackwood was appointed to the frigate HMS Penelope, of 36 guns, in which, after a few months of Channel service, he was sent out to the Mediterranean, and employed during the winter and following spring in the close blockade of Malta.
5.
Henry Blackwood was offered a line-of-battle ship, but preferred to remain in Euryalus, believing that he would have more opportunity of distinction; for Villeneuve, he was convinced, would not venture out in the presence of Nelson.
6.
Henry Blackwood was then ordered to return to his ship.
7.
Henry Blackwood landed at Falmouth and was one of the first messengers to use the Trafalgar Way to deliver his dispatches to the Admiralty in London.
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Henry Blackwood was thus in England at the time of Lord Nelson's funeral, on which occasion he acted as train-bearer of the chief mourner, Sir Peter Parker, the aged admiral of the fleet.
9.
Henry Blackwood survived by clutching an oar for an hour in the water before being rescued by Canopus.
10.
Henry Blackwood continued to serve in Warspite after her repairs in 1812, returning to the Channel Fleet, and serving at the blockades of Brest and Rochfort during a cruise that took Warspite to Vlissingen, Netherlands; Douarnenez, France; Basque Roads, France; and Cawsand, Cornwall.
11.
On 4 June 1814, Henry Blackwood attained the rank of rear-admiral of the Blue and in September he was created a Baronet, for his conduct of the heads of royal families of Europe to England following the defeat of Napoleon.
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Henry Blackwood became vice-admiral in May 1825, and from 1827 to 1830 he was Commander-in-Chief, The Nore.
13.
Henry Blackwood died after a short illness, differently stated as typhus or scarlet fever, on 17 December 1832, at Ballyleidy, the seat of his eldest brother, Lord Dufferin and Claneboye.
14.
Henry Blackwood is buried in Westminster Abbey with a monument by William Behnes.
15.
Henry Blackwood was married three times and left a large family.