We have to record the death, which
took place on Saturday night last, of Mr. Richard King, Warwick Street,
Rugby, Staff Surgeon, R.N. The deceased gentleman was born at Stapleton
Hall, County Carlow, Ireland, on May 4th, 1819.
He graduated at the Royal College
of Surgeons, Dublin, entered the Royal Navy, and first served in H.M.S.
Eurydice, which was lost suddenly a few years ago. Among a few of the
ships he served in are H.M.S. Gorgon and Victory. He
was engaged in a boat action with pirates on the Augozia River, Mozambique
Channel, 1847, where he was recommended by the commanding office, Admiral
T. V. Anson.
In 1850-51 he saw some Artic
service under Admiral Austin, which in search of Sir John Franklin's
expedition, and he served in the Baltic in 1855, where as the Artic
expedition, he gained two medals, being recommended by the commanding
officer, Capt. R. B. Crawford, to the Admiral Commander-in-Chief, the Hon.
Sir Richard Dundas, for swimming ashore at night with a marine, and
recovering arms and ammunition left behind by our men when surprised by
Cossacks.
He also served at the Cape under
Sir Harry Smith in the late Kaffir war. Dr. King was also at
Haliearnassus, Asia Minor, superintending the digging up of old Grecian antiquities
for the British Museum. He also visited Turkey, and in fact has been all
over the world, except India.
On retiring from the Navy on
half-pay he settled at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where he had a most
successful and extensive practice. In 1866 or 1867, he came to England and
settled in Rugby, where he soon became medical officer to several
societies of Odd-fellows and Foresters, and the village clubs. He was a
fairly successful practitioner, and his humerous and inspiriting demeanour
to his patients not unfrequently proved a valuable aid to his medical
skill.
He married in 1856 Elizabeth
Louisa, only daughter of Frederick Chetwode, of the 24th Regiment, and
youngest son of the late Sir John Chetwode, Bart, of Oakley Hall, Staffordshire,
who died in 1879, leaving eleven children, all of whom are living.
The funeral took place on
Wednesday afternoon at the cemetery. The family mourners were conveyed in
three coaches, and there were also present -- Drs. T. Duke, Mackenzie,
Sadd, C. Dukes and Walker, the Rev. W. O. Wait, and among others, Messrs.
J. B. Over, Redfern, Bradshaw, and H. Bromwich. The Rev. Canon Dixon,
D.D., read the burial service. The coffin was made of polished oak with
brass furniture, and upon it were placed many beautiful wreaths.
