Editing William Henry Smyth (section)

==Royal Navy==
[[File:W H Smyth.jpg|thumb|right]]
In 1802, aged 14, Smyth ran away from his poverty-stricken home to be a cabin boy aboard a merchant ship, which was subsequently commandeered by the Royal Navy; he entered as an ordinary seaman.<ref name="Jeal"/> In 1804 he was in the East India Company's ship ''Marquis Cornwallis'', which the government chartered for an expedition against the Seychelles. In the following March, as {{HMS|Cornwallis|1805|2}} the vessel was bought by the [[Royal Navy]] to be a 50-gun ship under the command of Captain Charles James Johnston, with whom Smyth remained, seeing much active service in Indian, Chinese, Australian and Pacific waters. In February 1808 he followed Johnston to {{HMS|Powerful|1783|2}}, which, on returning to England, was part of the force in the [[Walcheren Campaign|expedition to the Scheldt]], and was paid off in October 1809. He afterwards served in the 74-gun {{HMS|Milford|1809|2}} on the coast of France and Spain, and was lent from her to command the Spanish gunboat ''Mors aut Gloria'' at the [[Siege of Cádiz|defence of Cadiz]] from September 1810 to April 1811. In July 1811 he joined {{HMS|Rodney|1809|2}} off [[Toulon]], and through 1812 served on the coast of Spain.<ref name="dnb">{{cite web |last=Laughton |first=J. K. |title=Smyth, William Henry (1788–1865), admiral and scientific writer | work=[[Dictionary of National Biography]] Vol. LIII |publisher=Smith, Elder & Co. |year=1898 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/olddnb/25961 |access-date=31 October 2012 }} {{Cite DNB |wstitle=Smyth, William Henry |volume=53 |noicon=yes }}</ref>

On 25 March 1813 (aged 25) he was promoted to lieutenant and appointed to the Sicilian flotilla, in which he combined service against the French from Naples with a good deal of unofficial hydrographic surveying and antiquarian research. For his services in defending Sicily, he was subsequently awarded the [[Order of Saint Ferdinand and of Merit]] by King [[Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies]], and received permission from the Prince Regent to wear it.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=17126 |date=9 April 1816 |pages=65–66}}</ref>

[[File:Admiralty Chart No 153 The harbour of Villa-Franca RMG F0437, Published 1833.tiff|thumb|left|275px|Smyth's chart of the harbour of Villa-Franca ([[Villefranche-sur-Mer]])]]
On 18 September 1815 (aged 27) he was promoted to [[Commander (Royal Navy)|Commander]] and in command of the brig {{HMS|Scylla|1809|2}} continued surveying the coast of Sicily, the adjacent coasts of Italy, and the opposite shores of Africa. In 1817 his survey work was put on a more formal footing by his appointment to {{HMS|Aid|1809|2}}. In 1821  this vessel was renamed ''Adventure'' and later accompanied {{HMS|Beagle||2}} on the [[HMS Beagle#First voyage (1826–1830)|first voyage of the ''Beagle'']], in which Smyth's half-brother [[Augustus Earle]] was the official artist. In ''Aid'', Smyth carried on the [[hydrographic survey]] of the Italian, Sicilian, Greek, and African coasts, and constructed a very large number of charts, used by the Royal Navy among others until the mid-20th century. As a result, he became known as "Mediterranean Smyth". His hydrographic operations in the Adriatic, in collaboration with the Austrian and Neapolitan authorities, resulted in the ''Carta di Cabottaggio del Mare Adriatico'', published in 1822–24.<ref>"[[Cabotage]] Map of the Adriatic Sea" {{cite web |url=http://www.sullacrestadellonda.it/cartografia/uk15_en.htm |title=Nautical cartography : Great Britain |first=Paola |last=Presciuttini |work=sullacrestadellonda.it |date=2012 |access-date=25 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202235631/http://www.sullacrestadellonda.it/cartografia/uk15_en.htm |archive-date=2 December 2013  }}</ref>

While in [[Sicily]] in 1817, he met the [[Italians|Italian]] [[astronomer]] [[Giuseppe Piazzi]] in [[Palermo]] and visited his [[observatory]]; this sparked his interest in [[astronomy]] and he gave his second son (who became a noted astronomer) the name [[Charles Piazzi Smyth|Piazzi]]. Smyth published some of his work in his ''Memoir description of the Resources, Inhabitants, and Hydrography of Sicily and its Islands'' (London, 1824),<ref>{{cite journal|title=Review of ''Memoir description of the Resources, Inhabitants, and Hydrography of Sicily and its Islands, interspersed with Antiquarian and other Notices'' by Captain W. H. Smyth, R.N., 1824|journal=The Quarterly Review|date=January 1824|volume=30|pages=382–403|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044014221196;view=1up;seq=392}}</ref> which was followed in 1828 by a ''Sketch of Sardinia''. Subsequently, in 1854, he was awarded the [[Royal Geographical Society]]'s [[Founder's Medal]] in recognition of his survey work in the Mediterranean.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/C5962519-882A-4C67-803D-0037308C756D/0/GoldMedallists18322011.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927221002/http://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/C5962519-882A-4C67-803D-0037308C756D/0/GoldMedallists18322011.pdf |archive-date=2011-09-27 |url-status=live| title=List of Past Gold Medal Winners|publisher= Royal Geographical Society|access-date = 24 August 2015}}</ref>

On 7 February 1824, aged 36, he was promoted to [[Post-Captain]], and in November he paid off the ''Adventure''. He remained on the Active List on full pay, ready for active service, but this actually was the end of his service at sea, and he turned to a life of literary and scientific pursuits.<ref name="dnb"/> In 1846 aged 58, he retired from the Navy on [[half-pay]],<ref>18 [[Shilling (British coin)|shillings]] a day,</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=20656 |date=3 November 1846 |pages=3839–3840  |nolink=yes }}</ref> being advanced on the retired list to Rear-Admiral on 28 May 1853,<ref>Without increase of pay</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=21445 |date=3 June 1853 |page=1549 |nolink=yes }}</ref> then to Vice-Admiral on 17 May 1858,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=22140 |date=18 May 1858 |pages=2454–2455  |nolink=yes }}</ref> and finally to Admiral on 14 November 1863, aged 75.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=22790 |date=20 November 1863 |page=5586 |nolink=yes }}</ref>