Michael D.Heath-Caldwell M.Arch.

1870

Homeward Mail from India, China and the East.
Saturday 5 February 1870

Bombay - Regatta.

A regatta is to take place between the boats of the East India Squadron now in Bombay Harbour, under the patronage of Commodore Sir Leopold Heath K.C.B. On the first day there will be but one race - for the boats of every size;  1¼ minute for every foot length; boats to sail with rig as manned and armed.

On the second, the first race will be for boom boats; the second for cutters, 10 oars; the third for six-oared galleys; the fourth for five-oared gigs; the fifth for four-oared gigs; the sixth a Kroo boat or canoe race; and the seventh a race for copper punts, pulled, of course by Kroomen. 
The Forte will, of course, be the flagship on the occasions; and as there are no fewer than six men-of-war in harbour - the Forte (?) 

Globe

Saturday 5 February 1870

Commodore Sir Leopold Heath is about to proceed to Calcutta with the object, it is believed, of conferring with the Viceroy as to the number of men-of-war on the East India station that shall be hereafter available for the service of the Government of India.

Times of India
Tuesday 22 February 1870

His Excellency Sir Salar Jung K.C.S.I., and suite, were yesterday conducted by Mr Saunders C.B., Resident of Hyderebad, over H.M.'s Forte, where they were received by Commodore Sir Leopold Heath K.C.B., and officers. 

With Mr Roberts was, in addition to his own staff, Mr Fitzgerald, as representative of His Excellency the Governor. The arrangements for conveying the distinguished party afloat were seen to by Captain Robinson personally. 

Having inspected the Forte - and there is no prettier sight afloat than a trim British frigate - and having had explained to them everything of interest on board, the strangers left, under a salute from the vessel, for the troop-ship Malabar, which then had her troops on board - the 102nd Foot and details - - - 

We may state, also, that the impression created among those on board by Sir Salar Jung's intelligent and noble bearing was a most favourable one. 

From the Malabar,the party proceeded up the Harbour, and ultimately to Elephants. They honoured the Hon'ble David Sassoon C.S.I., with their company at dinner in the evening. Today they depart by special train to Aurangabad.

Times of India

Thursday 17 March 1870

Visit of Duke of Edinburgh to India.

---The procession having now been formed, the pilot tug went ahead, and the May Frere, having on board HIs Excellency Sir Seymour Fitzgerald and Staff, H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh and Staff, Sir William Mereweather, Sir Leopold Heath and others, went ahead, amid ringing cheers from the other steamers under whose bows she had to pass.

People looked back upon Elephants, and found four splendid bonfires on its peaks; and they looked forward upon the Harbour, there they saw the splendid line of hte P. and O. with all the mechantmen beyond. 

Every vessel of the P. and O. Company was lit up from the water's edge to its topmost spar, and on every vessel also were there stout lungs to shout a sailor's welcome. As the May Frere reached the first of the steamers, a salute was fired from all their guns; and as she passed the last, the cheering ceased, and the Band spoke forth "Oh how my heard goes pit-a-pat pit-a-pat."

- --  - -continues - - - 

Leamington Spa

Saturday 30 April 1870  (and 23 Dec. 1869)

Clarendon Hotel

Mrs and Miss Marsh-Caldwell, Linley Wood, Cheshire

Homeward Mail from India, China and the East.
Saturday 2 April 1870

Arrival at Bombay.

We extract the following from the Bombay Gazette: - 
(re Prince visit)

He has come at last. As my be supposed, the road leading to the station was crowded with people, even for an hour or two before the time of arrival. The station itself, usually of so melancholy an appearance, was gay and cheerful on this occassion. All that evergreens and flags , and good good taste combined could do was done to render e station attractive.  - - -Part of the space in the centre was reserved for the Governor and party, or for those of them who chose to sit down at all, and at the further end there was another place reserved for the native Rajahs, Cheifs and Sirdars.  - -- 

Most of the gentlemen holding official positions or high in the services remained standing in front of the gallery. The handsome dress of the political officers was freqent and conspicuous and the Court dress also was to be seen. Sir Leopold Heath, with a mass of medals on his breast, represented the Navy; the Lord Bishop contributed the clerical element, and we noticed two officers, no doubt of high position, from the Portuguese Army of Goa. 

As we have said, the attendance of Rajahs and Chiefs, from one who receives a royal salute, down to those of low degree for whom a few ruffles are considered sufficient, was large and imposing. At the top of the list waas the Gaekwar, next the young Rajah of Kolapore. Among others on the platform were:- H.E. Sir Augustus Spencer, Commander-in-Chief, and staff, the Hon. the Chief Justice, the Lord Bishop of Bombay, the Hon. Mr Mansfield, the Hon, Mr Tucker, the Hon. Messrs Sassoon, Bellasis, Campbell, Munguldass, and Byramjee Jejeebhoy, the Hon. Justices Westropp, Sargent, Gibbs, Warden, Lloyd, Melvill, and Bayley. Sir Leopold Heath, Sir Rutherford Alcock, Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy,  - - continues - - 

Times of India
Wednesday 18 May 1870

Commodore Sir Leopold Heath K.C.B., Commodore of the second class, and senior officer of the East India station, whose term of service has expired, proceeds home in July. It is said he is to be succeeded by Capt. George Ommaney Willis C.B. 

Time of India 
Wednesday 18 May 1870

The usual dullness of Trincomalee has been lately enlivened by the presence of the Galatea, H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, the Forte, Commodore Sir Leopold Heath, the Dryad, Captain Philip H. Colomb, and other ships. 

There have been varoius amusements, a cricket match, which unfortunately was not played out, a boat race, which was won by the Galatea's, and a rifle match which the Forte's won.

Leeds Mercury

Friday 20 May 1870

India - By British Indian Cable.

Bombay - May 19

The first monsoon mail steamer leaves Bombay for England on Wednesday next. Commodore Leopold Heath proceeds home in July

Morning Post

Friday 20 May 1870

The Duke of Edinburgh in Ceylon.

Colombo - April 15

Of the many entertainments prepared for the Duke of Edinburgh, none have been more successful than the Colombo public ball. On the previous day his royal highness had returned from the Ratinapura Kraal, and on the next day he was present at a garden fete given in the Rifle mess-house grounds by the officers of the Ceylon Rifle Regiment, and afterwards at athletic sports got up for the benefit of the garrison and royal navy.  - - - 

After a quiet day on board the Galatea, his royal highness started for the kraal to be held in the Seven Korles (or seven counties), a district very rich in rice cultivation, and in other parts of it rich in elephants. 

The crowd collected on the road leading to the railway station and on the departure platform lustily cheered his royal highness as he departed in company with the Governor, Sir Leopold Heath, Colonel Riley, and other gentlemen. 

- - - continues - - - 

The duke drove the Governor and Sir Leopold Heath to Kurunegala, which was decorated in honour of the visit by several triumphal arches, some of which were verry carefully designed and carried out. - - - Mr Morris, the Government agent, with other officials, received his royal highness as he entered the town, and loud cheers greeted the Duke as he passed through the avenue of arches leading to the Maligawa, the official bungalow, immediately underneath the great rock of Etagulla, the (Elephan Rock), on the top of which a few hours later a bonfire intimated to far and near that Kurunegala was at last honoured with a royal guest.

- - - continues - - -

Naval & Military Gazette and Weekly Chronicle of the United Service.

Wednesday 15 June 1870

Commodore Sir Leopold Heath K.C.B.,Commodore of the second class, and senior Officer of the East Indian Station, whose term of service has expired, proceeds home in July. It is said he is to be succeeded by Capt. George Ommaney Willis C.B.

Morning Post.

Wednesday 6 July 1870

Vice-Chancellor Bacon's Chambers -

Before the Vice-Chancellor - at 3.30pm. Marsh-Caldwell v Marsh-Caldwell 

Times of IndiaTuesday

23 August 1870

On Saturday evening occurred an event which it gives us great pleasure to chronicle. On the elevation of Sir M.R. Westropp to the post of Chief Justice of Bombay, the members of the Bar determined to express both their great satisfaction at the appointment and the high esteem in which Sir Michael is desservedly held, by entertaining him at dinner. They accordingly sent him an invitation which he was pleased to accept.

The rest of Her Majesty's Judges of the High Court and Sir Leopold Heath, Commander-in-Chief  of the East Indian Squadron, were also invited as guests of the Bar. 

The dinner was given at Altamont, Cumballa Hill, and the following gentlemen were at present on the occasion: The Chief Justice, the Hon'ble Mr Justice Gibbs, the Hon'ble Mr Justice Bayley, the Hon'ble Mr Justice Lloyd, the Hon'ble Mr Justice Kemball, Sir Leopold Heath K.C.B., the Hon'ble the Acting Advocate General Mr George Taylor, Mr C.J. Mayhew, Mr McCulloch, Mr J.Connon, Mr Cooper, Mr Ferguson, Mr Starling, Mr Latham, Mr Farran, Mr Macpherson, Mr Tyrell Leith, Mr B Tyabjee, Mr P.M. Mehta, Mr C. Manockjee, Mr Bala Mungesh Wagle, and Mr L. Nowrojee.

Army and Navy Gazette 
Saturday 27 August 1870

The successor to Commodore Sir Leopold Heath K.C.B., has not been named as yet, but it is more than probable that the name will be announced next week.

Army and Navy Gazette

Saturday 27 August 1870

The leak in her Majesty's ship Forte, to which we alluded some time back, was not, by the latest advices from Bombay, stopped, and we undertand that Commodore Sir Leopold Heath has received diretions to remain in port until the arrival of his successor.

Homeward Mail from India, China and the East
Saturday 27 August 1870

Court Martial on the Commander of H.M.S. "Forte." 

On July 29 a court martial, which lasted three days, was concluded on board H.M.S. Forte, the flagship of Commodore Sir Leopold Heath lying in Bombay Harbour. The Forte had come from Trincomalee to Bombay for the purpose of holding the Court, under orders by telegraph from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, as to the conduct of Commander W.H. Gould, then in charge of the flagship, in awarding punishment to a man on board whilst the ship was lying at Colombo in April last, and during the absence of the Commodore in company with H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh at the elephant kraal. 

The court martial opened on July 2. The members were Captain C.T. Curme, Commander of H.M.'s troopship Euphrates (President); Captain S. Douglas, Commander of H.M.'s troopship Malabar; Captain J.C. Wells, Commander of H.M.S. Nymphe, Lieutenant J.B.Warren, H.M.S. Forte;and Lieutenant E.D.Law, H.M.'s troopship Malabar. 

H.H. Wyatt Esq., Secretary to the Commodore, officiated as Deputy Judge-Advocate. The Commodore, Sir Leopold Heath, was the proscecutor. The charge was to the following effect: "That he, the said W.H. Gould, Commander, belonging to H.M.S. Forte, then being a person subject to the Naval Discipline Act of 1866, did on or about the 11th day of April, 1870, on baord the said ship Forte, disobey the lawful commands of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, in that he the said W.H. Gould, Commander, did cause Thomas O'Connor, an able seaman of, and belonging to, H.M.S. Forte, to be punished with forty-eight lashesfor 'mutinous and highly insubordinate conduct in refusing to carry out a punishment awarded,' the said Thomas O'Connor having been at the time committing the said offence in the first classs for conduct, and the said forty-eight lashes having been inflicted within less than twelve hours from the completion of the punishment warrant." 

The finding of the Court was as follows:- "That the Court, having considered the whole of the evidence, considers the charge proved against the prisoner, Commander Gould, and the decision of the Court is that the said Commander Goold be dismissed from H.M.S. Forte, and the said Commander Goold (Gould?) is dismissed from H.M.S. Forte accordingly." 

The Bombay papers are not surprised at the verdict. An officer who has at once his captain and his commodore as prosecutor, it is said, has an uphill battle to fight - especially if his defence is such as must imply laxity on the part of the prosecutor. 

Those who know the Forte well speak in strong terms of sympathy for Commander Goold (Gould?), and the hope is indulged that the Admiralty may soon compensate him for the reverse in his professional career he has experienced.Fortunately, Commander Goold is well known in the service as a smart and good officer, one who knows that the first duty of a commandeing officer on board ship is to maintain strick discipline.

Homeward Mail from India, China and the East.

Monday 19 September 1870

Bombay

Dinner to Mr Justice Westropp.

On August 20 the members of the Bar expressed their great satisfaction at the appointment of Sir M.R.Westropp to the post of Chief Justice of Bombay, and the high esteem in which Sir Michael is deservedly held, by entertaining him at dinner.

The rest of Her Majesty's Judges of the High Court and Sir Leopold Heath, Commander-in-Chief of the East India squadron, were also invited as guests of the Bar. 

The dinner was given at Altamont, Cumballa Hill, and the following gentlemen were present on the occasion - The Chief Justice, the Hon. Mr Justice Gibbs, the Hon. Mr Justice Bayley, the Hon. Mr Justice Lloyd, the Hon. Mr Justice Kimball, Sir Leopold Heath K.C.B., the Hon. the Acting-Advocate-General Mr George Taylor,  - - Mr B. Tyebjee, Mr P.M. Mehta, Mr C. Manockjee, Mr Bala Mungesh Wagle, and Mr I. Nowrojee.

Hampshire Telegraph

Saturday 30 September 1870

The Court-Martialon Commander Goold.

After an inquiry lasting over two days at Bombay, Commander Goold has been dismissed from H.M.S. Forte, for illegally flogging a seaman on the 11th April.

The sentence is stated by the Times of India to "have caused no small surprise among those who knew the circumstances," but to those who only know such of the circumstances as were reported at the court-martia, the award will be generally regarded as a matter of course. 

And even had the charge not been proved, the good condition of the ship's crew, as well as the harmony of all on board, would have demanded that Captain Sir Leopold Heath,the Commodore of the station, and the prisoner should no longer be allowed to remain in the same ship.

Sir Leopold conducted the prosecution, and he appears to have done so with considerable warmth, not to say animus, against the commander. Indeed, there can be little doubt that a bad feeling existed between the two officers, and that the usual resutlts had supervened.

The Commodore, while admitting that the Commander was an efficient officer, accusted him of occassionally showing a want of that calmness of temper and of judgment required in those who have to award punishment; while the Commander alleged that the Commodore was too lax in his discipline, that he prescribed mild punishments for serious offences, that he frequently refused to punish at all, and that in other instances it was not unusual for him to alter or remit sentences which had already been pronounced.

The prisoner was an officer of quite another kind. "It was my lot in my early career," he remarked at the trial, "to have been brought up under very strict officers, men who looked upon the immediate obedience of an order from a superior, especially when the superior officer was the commanding officer of the ship, to be most essential to the maintenance of discipline.
I have imbibed those views, and have invariably, bearing in mind the regulations of the Navy, carried them out solely for the well-being and discipline of the service." 

We can therefore readily understand the difficulties of Commander Goodl's position under the circumstances, and how often he must have chafed at what he saw on board, and could not altogether remeby. 

Of course, as was to be expected, the crew sided with the Captain against his subordinate offier, who, as may be easily imagined, was not popular with the blue jackets.

To add to the troubles of the Commaner, Sir Leopold Heath, being commodore of the station as well as captain of the Forte, was frequently called for long periods away from the ship. All might have gone on well, however, had the authority of the prisoner been well supported; but Sir Leopold seems to have made himself too easily accessible as a court of criminal appeal against the decisions of his commander. 

Hence, whenever any of the minor punishments were awarded by the latter, it became the custom for the offenders, both men and boys, to ask if they might see the Commodor, in order that an appeal might be preferred. And from some portions of his cross-examination of witnesses, it would seem that though Sir Leopold considereed it wrong for a seaman not to obey the judgments of Commander Goold if insisted upon during his absence, he considered it little short of a mockery of justice not to recognise an appeal as a ground for a postponement of punishment. 

Surely something ought to have been  left to the discretion of an officer to whose judgment the safety of the vessel and crew was confided. 

As a consequence of this state of affairs, the prisoner asserted that the discipline of the ship up to the 11th of April was very loose, and the acts of insubordination since his arrest had greatly increased. 

Sir Leopold emphatically denied, and officers were called who stated that the general discipline of the Forte had always been good. Not only, howevere, as Commander Goold remarked, have "different officers different ways of enforcing discipline," but they have also different ideas as to what constitutes discipline on board ship. 

Certain it is, that on both points the Captain and the Commander varied in their opinions. But while it is possible to sympathise to some extent with Commander Goold against his superior officer, it is impossible to side with him against the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. For if Thomas O'Connor was guilty of a breach of discipline in refusing to obey the orders of his commanding officer, the latter was equally at fault in driving a coach and six through the Articles of War.

Hence, we contend that the offence of Commander Goold was one which the Admiralty could not pass over, and that the charge having been clearly proved the sentence passed upon him was a lenient one. 

But let us state the facts. ON the 7th of April, the Forte being then in the Colombo Roads, Commodore Sir Leopold Heath, after committing the ship to the charge of Commander Goold, departed on some offical duty with the Governor of Ceylon and H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh.

During the absence of the Captain it would seem as if the Commander had made an attempt to enforce a stricter discipline; and as spirits had been conveyed on baord by the men on leave, he commenced by insisting that the boats' crews should be searched on returning to the ship. 

This custom, though not unknown in the Colombo Roads, appears to have fallen very much into disuse so far as the Forte was concerned, and the crew consequently began to murmur.
On the 9th of April, two days after the departure of Sir Leopold Heath for an elephant kraal, an A.B. seaman named Thomas O'Connor was ordered by the ship's corporal to fall in with the boat's crew on the quarter deck to be searched. 

O'Connor was in the first-class for conduct, and he seems to have been a man of excellent character. From the 25th of August, 1861, to the 20th of March 1870, there had been only five offences recorded against him, and thes were all various modifications of breaking leave. It does not appear that his offence on the 9th of April was of a very serious character - certainly not of such a character as to deserve to be called "mutinous and highly insubordinate." 

Midshipman Hicks deposed that the man was "mumbling" and did not fall in at once. He also heard him make use of an expression something like this: "I will see the Commander; do you call this punishment, or what?"

When asked by the prosecutor to define what he meant by "mumbling," Hicks replied, "Talking in an under tone." But when he was subsequently asked why he considered O'Connor to be drunk at the time, his anwer was, "I did not think that any sober man would make use of those expressions on the quarter deck, in a good loud tone of voice," 

This contradiction in the evidence of the main witness against the seaman seems not to have been noticed by the prosecutor. 

The result however, was, that as the ship's corporal would not affirm that O'Connor was insubordinate, the charge was dismissed by Lieutenant Bowers, the officer of the watch. The man was subsequently reported to the Commander on another charge of making a false accusation against the corporal; and it is somewhat singular that Commander Goold, while taking no notice of the only offence which was reported to him by the officer of the watch, should have ordered O'Connor "ten days' No.11" for the alleged insubordination of which he had been acquitted by Lieuntenat Bowers.

Now, however, comes the most important part of the business. O'Connor refused to obey his punishment, quietly, but firmly, demanding that he might communicate with the Commodore on the subject. Of course, there can be no question whatever that, even supposing O'Connor to have been unjustly punished, he was guilty of a very serious offence in refusing to carry it out. 
Still, we agree with the remark of the Commodore that the offence of the 9th of April was completely dwarfed by what occurred on the 11th, when O'Connor received forty-eight lashes for "mutinous and highly insubordinate conduct in refusing to carry out the punishment awarded him." 

The question is, did the passive resistence of the seaman on the 9th amount to mutiny? for if it did not, it is evident that his flogging was illegally administered. 

We have already said that O'Connor was in the first-class for conduct, and the 8th paragraph 62nd page of the Addenda distinctly states that "men in the first-class for conduct, &c., committing any grave offence against discipline, or guilty of repeated misconduct, may by the officer in command be disrated and removed by warrant into the second-class; they will not be liable to corporal punishment at the time when they are so removed except for MUTINY, as explained in article 60 page 124 of the Instructions."*

It is clear that, whatever the offence O'Connor may have been, it did not in the language of the Admiralty Instructions amount to "open mutiny." 

It was submitted by the defence that the repeated refusals of the man was an aggravation of his offence, but such a plea will not stand for a moment. The number of refusals depended upon the number of times he was aske to obey; and it must be evident that no amount of persistence can magnify an act of passive resistance into active mutiny.

There can be little doubt that Commander Goold, irritated by the number of men under punishment, and incensed at the demeanour of part of the crew, determined to make an example of some one, and O'Connor was the man whose case happened to come first to hand. 

The prisoner denied that he had acted hastily in the matter, and stated that he did not proceed to extremities until he had satisfied himself by an examination of the Articles of War, the Addenda and the Circular of the 1st December 1868.

It seems, however, almost incredible that after all this research he should have been guilty of two serious mistakes. For not only did he flog a seaman who was clearly protected by Article 60, but he did so in such a manner as to violte Article 61.

From the evidence of of the Assisstant Paymaster it appears that the punishment warrant was made out "shortly after two o'clock," and signed "between three and four," and that the flogging was inflicted "about half-past four." 

Now it is laid down in the 61st Article that "No corporal punishment whatever so to be awarded by the authority of an officer having the command of one of Her Majesty's ships is, even in extreme cases, to exceed forty-eight lashes, or to take place until twelve hours at least shall have elapsed after the completion of the warrant - except in case of mutiny." 

The conclusion, therefore, is inevitable, that O'Connor's punishment was illegally administered, that it was excessive, and that it was precipately carried out. There have been doubts we believe expressed in Portsmouth as to the legality of the court, seeing that amonst its members were two officers of inferior rank to the prisoner, viz., the lieutenants of the Euphrates and the Malabar. 

There does not seem to us, however, to be any foundation for disputing the legality of the Court. The Instructions (4,chap. xi) provide for the attendance of lieutenants under certain conditions, and it may be pointed out that when Commander Goold was asked whether he ojbected to any member of the court, he reply was "No objection whatever." 

Times of India

Wednesday 12 October 1870

The terrible news which we received a month since by telegraph, of the foundering of the 'Captain', generally considered to be the finest ship in the Navy, threw quite a gloom over Bombay, and, independently of its being a national loss, some of the officers who went down in the unfortunate ship were well known in the city.

The full accounts by this mail leave no room for hope that a single officer has been saved. A gunner and a few seamen alone remain to tell the tale. Mr Powles, the chaplain, a gentleman respected and beloved by all who knew him, and who was connected to Bombay by marraige, is gone. Mr Tregaskiss, then whom there was not a more promising young officer in the Navy, and Mr Gardiner, an engineer who was formerly on the East Indian Station in the "Octavia" are also among the lost. It is satisfactory to know thatl, although money is not at present plentiful in Bombay, that the appeal of the Commodore of the East Indian Station, Sir Leopold Heath K.C.B., has been liberally responded to. - - - 

Times of India

Saturday 15 October 1870

We may mention that several of the guests who attended on board the Hindostan on Thursday, when the formal presentation was made to Mr Briscoe were among the party, when the sad scene occurred in which the gentleman took so prominent and heroic a part.

The following visitors were present:-

Sir M.R. Westropp, Sir Leopold Heath, General Stock, Mr Justice Gibbs, Mr Mexwell, Captain Robinson, Captain Morland, Kr Knapp, Mr Landley, Captain Stock, Mr Balfour, Captain Turner, Mr Buchen, Drs Smith and Grey, Messrs Parker, Coyle, Bayliss, Galpine, Tait &c., Mr McRitchie, Superintendent Engineer P. & O. Co., Captain Curling adn the officers of S.S. Hindostan, Captain Babot and officers of S.S. China, Captain Eastley and officers of S.S. Travancore, the officers of S.S. Orissa, Mr Jay and the unattached officers. 
It is almost needless to say that the P. and O. steam-ship Hindostan, probably the grandest and fastest ship of the P. & O.'s magnificent fleet, was decorated with that taste which is the characteristic of sailors, and it is equally superfluous to remark that the dinner was of the most recherche description, and the wines unexeptionable. 

Captain Curling, the commander of the Hindostan presided at the first table, and Captain Henry, the Bombay Superintendent of the Company, at the second.

We subjon a list of toasts, and the post prandial proceedings:-

Captain Curling said: Gentlemen, the toast I am now about to propose will require very little preface at my hands because it is one which, wherever Englishmen are gathered together - whether in England, or India, or the Anitpodies - always ensures a cordial reception - - - Gentlemen, I call upon you to drink to the Army and Navy; with the former I beg to couple the name of General Stock, and with the latter the name of Commodore Sir Leopold Heath K.C.B.

--- continues --- toast by Brigadier-General Stock.
Commodore Sir Leopold Heath, in replying for the Navy, said: I thank you sincerely, gentlemen, for the cordial and hearty manner in which you have received the toast of the service to which I have the honour to beong. I cannot resume my seat on the present occasion without alluding to the great sorrow we have recently underone; and thanking the Bombay community for the very handsome manner in which they have supported the subscription which I inaugurated for the benefit of the sufferers by the loss of the Captain. 

Captain Cowper Coles was a messmate of mine, as a midshipman, many year ago. He did not then show the genius which he undoubtedly possessed, but he endeared himself to us all by his friendly, light hearted, and remarkably affectionate manners. 

He was, without doubt, the favourite of a very large mess. In later life, as you all know, he invented the turret system. He had the enthusiasm and energy of all inventers, and was not content with half success. He would not rest satisfied with the almost universal opinion that his system would serve admirably for harbour defences and coast defences, but he wished to push it to its extreme limit.

He thought that the full steam power and the full sailing power of the cruising ships of the British navy should be built upon his system. The system evidently was not sufficiently advanced to warrant its extension so far, and the result is the lamentable accident which has placed so many families in mourning. 

The Chairman has referred to the long peace we have enjoyed, and the probability of a future war. The secret Project of Treaty has no doubt opened England's eyes. We are told that in the midst of life we should prepare for death, and it seems that in the midst of peace with the most friendly relations existing between ourselves and our neighbours, we must be prepared, at a moment's notice, for war.

Whilst our ambassadors are full of friendly talk and peaceful correspondence, we do not know what may be going on behind the scenes, and we must be more prepared for immediate war than we have hitherto been. (Hear, hear.). 

This applies more to our distant colonies than to our island home, and particularly to Bombay, with its enourmous mecantile establishments, its fleet of shipping, and its material prosperity. It has hitherto been at the mercy of any hostile flying squadron. You have now, however, - through the opening of the eyes of your rulers, and the energy of HIs Excellency the Governor - in course of erection, a very strong and respectable , although perhaps temporary, fortress on the Oyster Rock backed up by a smaller one on the Middle Ground. 
With these in your possession and the Monitors which will soon be here, you are quite safe from a flying squadron, and only a very strong fleet with a great deal of preparation, can attack you. 

I am very glad that, before I leave this station, those forts have begun to be armed, and that I shall leave you in a secure condition. It is hardly my province to anticipate the event of this evening, but I cannot help taking this opportunity of saying that, as the merchant service in general and our great steam companies in particular are now-a-days so frequently mixed up with us, and as they form our valuable naval reserve,it is a great pleasure to me that, within a fortnight of my leaving for England, I am enabled to be present on this occasion to do honour to one of them for a deed of gallantry as great as many for which high honours have been conferred on the field of battle (Loud applause).

Army and Navy Gazette
Saturday 22 October 1870

Navy

Forte, 24, screw-frigate, Commodore Sir Leopold Heath K.C.B. By the kind permission, and under the immediate patronage of Commodore Sir Leopold Heath K.C.B., Commander Errington, and the officers, the seamen amateurs of H.M.S. Forte gave a theatrical entertainment at the Grant Rd Theatre, Bombay, on Monday evening, Sept 5, on which occasion there was an excellent attendance, comprising not only a large muster of naval officers, but a great many civilians, and the latter would have been much more numerously represented, were half Bombay not at Poona. 

Nevertheless, the performers of Monday night have good reason to congratulate themselves upon the way in which the pieces went off, and also upon their successful endeavours to please having met with hearty appreciation of their audience. 

The programme commenced with the drama of Simon Lee. This was followed by an original negro drama, by the Ethiopian troupe, entitled Uncle Jeff.

The whole performance was in aid of the Widors and Orphans Society. The Forte's band was in attendance, and played exceedingly well. - Times of India 

Times of India
Monday 24 October 1870

It does not matter a great deal whether the following dialogue, reported by the Pioneer, is founded on fact or drawn from the imagination: - "His Excellency the Governor of Bombay, accompanied by Sir Leopold Heath K.C.B., and others, cruised round the harbour on the 18th in order to examine the fortifications.

"The impregnable character of our defences,' said Sir Seymour Fitzgerald, 'remind me of Kronstadt.'

'Or Gibraltar, Sir,' suggested an Aide. 'More like Rosherville,' was the Commodor's retort." 

Morning Post

Tuesday 29 November 1870

India

His Excellency Rear-Admiral Cockburn arrived at Bombay from England last Sunday night, to assume command of the East Indian squadron in succession to Sir Leopold Heath.

Homeward Mail from India, China and the East
Monday 21 November 1870

Commodore Sir Leopold Heath K.C.B.

Commodore Sir Leopold Heath K.C.B., Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's ships of war on the East Indian Station, will probably come home in the mail steamer leaving Bombay on November 7, his term of service having expired. Rear-Admiral Cockburn, who has been appointed to succeed him was daily expected in Bombay.

Sir Leopold Heath joined the Royal Naval College in 1830. While there, he gained the first medal, and left the College in 1831. He came to India as a midshipman in H.M.S. Melville bearing the flag of Sir John Gore K.C.B., and also served as a midshipman on the South American and Pacific Stations in the Iris, Dublin and Harrier, returning home as a mate. He then joined the new Royal Naval College in 1839. Having gained the prize lieutenant's commission in 1840, he proceeded as gunnery lieutenant to the Mediterranean in the Imgregnable, three-decker. 

In 1843 he went to China and Borneo as gunnery lieutenant of the Iris, and was in command of the Pioneers when Bruné was captured. He was also engaged in various expeditions against pirates on the coast of Borneo. He acted as Malay interpreter to Captain Rodney Munday in the negotiations which ended in the cession of the island of Labuan to the British Crown, and was left there as acting-commander of H.M.S. Wolf, when he discovered the coal mines now being worked by the Labuan Company. 

In 1847 he was confirmed as a commander, and was appointed to the command of H.M.S. Niger in 1850. Commander Heath proceeded first to the west coast of Africa, where he acted in the suppression of the slave trade in the Bight of Benin. 

He was present at the first attack upon Lagos, and returned, still in command of the Niger, to the Mediterranean, and took part in the naval bombardment of Sebastopol, for which service, having displayed signal gallantry, he was made a C.B., and in 1854 was made a post-captain. 

Captain Heath was then transferred to the command of H.M.S. Sanspareil, and from thence to be principal agent of transports in the Black Sea. 

In 1865 he returned home and commissioned the screw mortar frigate Seahorse, intended for the attack on Sweaborg, if the war had continued. He was appointed in 1856 to command of Newhaven Coast Guard District, and commanded in succession the Melampas, Arrogant, and Dauntless. 

In 1862 he took command of the gunnery training-ship Cambridge, and was removed from thence to the Vice Presidentship of the Ordnance Select Committee, where he took a leading part in the introduction of the present system of heavy muzzle-loading guns. 

The sittings of the Select Committee having concluded, he was appointed to the command of the East Indian Station in 1867, a period when, through the Abyssinian war, much trouble and responsibility attached to the Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces.

On October 25, the ward-room officers of the Flag-ship gave their Commodore a farewell dinner. The Commodore and officers part amid mutual regrets.

Homeward Mail from India, China and the East.
Saturday 3 December 1870

Bombay,

Our advices from Bombay are to November 12.

Departure of Commodore Sir Leopold Heath K.C.B., - Commodore Sir Leopold Heath K.C.B., whose term of service as Commodore of the East Indian station has expired, left for England in the P.& O. steamer Ellora on November 6. 

As a farewell mark of respect, the Commodore was pulled to the ship from the Apollo Bunder in the barge manned by officers of the Forte, and as the Commordore passed his old ship, the band played "Home, Sweet Home" and "Auld Lang Syne." It is (continues?)

Naval and Military Gazette
Saturday 3 December 1870

Captain Sir Leopold Heath K.C.B., has arrived in London from the East India Station.