Fiott , William Edward , 1786-1849 , Lieutenant

Fiott joined the Navy as a volunteer in 1798 and was present at the battle of Copenhagen, 1801. He took part in the Walcheren expedition of 1809 and in 1810 was made a lieutenant but court-martialled in the same year for using seditious language, dismissed his ship and put to the bottom of the Lieutenants' List. Soon afterwards, however, he was appointed to the MARLBOROUGH and served in the West Indies. After two years on half-pay he bought the QUEEN, a trading vessel, which was lost in 1818. From then until 1827 he owned the RETRENCH, sailing as master while still on half-pay until 1823. In this year the RETRENCH was attacked by Spanish pirates off Cuba. When he received a commission In 1823 to command HMS RENEGADE in the West Indies, he employed another half-pay naval captain on the Retrench, which was wrecked in 1824 but salvaged and, in 1827, sold In 1824 he was court-martialled again on various charges including that of mistreating his crew but was acquitted. From 1827 Fiott lived on the continent and remained there until his death.