The son of William Anthony HALSTED ( -1778), a Captain in the Navy and Mary FRANKLAND. He was born on 2 April 1764 in Gosport, Hampshire. He married Emma Mary PELLEW (18 Jan 1775-3 Mar 1835) (daughter of Sir Edward Pellew, Bart) on 7 September 1803 in Mylor, Cornwall. He died on 22 April 1841 in Stoke Damerel, Devon. They had 11 children
Emma Mary HALSTED was born on 13 October 1804 in Stanstead, Essex. She married George Martin BRAUNE on 27 October 1834 in Tormoham, Devon.
William Anthony HALSTED was born on 20 November 1805 in Plymouth, Devon. He married Georgina Susan HONEY on 1 October 1836 in Madras Bangalore. He died on 11 September 1867 and was a Colonel in the Army.
Edward Pellow HALSTED was born on 28 December 1807 in East Teignmouth, Devon. He was a Vice-Admiral and died on 17 July 1873 in Haslar, Hampshire.
Susan Amelia HALSTED was born on 13 November 1809 in Gosport, Hampshire and married Richard Maxwell FOX on 14 September 1835 in Greenwich, Kent.
Julia Pellew HALSTED was born on 19 August 1811 in Shaldon, Hampshire and married Richard HARWARD in August 1834 in Scotland.
Louisa Caroline HALSTED was born on 22 October 1813 in Alton, Hampshire.
Elizabeth Hamilton HALSTED was born on 24 October 1814 in Alton. She died on 3 December 1903 in Claygate, Surrey.
Charles Frankland Fleetwood HALSTED was born on 13 October 1817 in Alton.
Lawrence George HALSTED was born on 17 August 1820 in Alton. He died on 7 November 1846 in the Far East.
Jane Plumer HALSTED was born on 20 July 1822 in Alton and died on 12 March 1891 in Pinner, Middlesex.
Mary Anne HALSTEAD was born in 1829 in Paris, France. She married William CRAWFORD on 29 December 1853 in Melbourne, NSW, Australia.
Lawrence William HALSTEAD had a distinguished naval career passing out as a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy on 8th December 1781 the certificate is below.
From that date he received the following commissions
What is of interest here is that if his date of birth is correct then he was only 17 when he passed out not twenty as per this certificate.
| Commission | Commission Date |
|---|---|
| Lieutenant | 8 Dec 1781 |
| Commander | 22 Nov 1790 |
| Captain | 31 May 1791 |
| Rear Admiral Blue | 31 Jul 1810 |
| Rear Admiral White | 12 Aug 1812 |
| Rear Admiral Red | 4 Dec 1813 |
| Vice Admiral Blue | 4 Jun 1814 |
| Vice Admiral White | 12 Aug 1819 |
| Vice Admiral Red | 27 May 1825 |
| Admiral Blue | 22 Jul 1830 |
| Admiral White | 10 Jan 1837 |
He received the KCB (Knight Commander of the Military order of the Bath) on 2 Jan 1815 and the GCB in 1837.
Ships on which he served
During this period he served on a number of ships and this has been pieced from musters and pay lists.
CANADA, 74
Served as 3rd Lt under William Cornwallis until 1782 when she was paid off at Portsmouth in October. The Canada was refitted in Jamaica during this time.
There appears to be a gap in his service and his service after that cannot be traced until c1791 when he appear for some reason to be on the Atalante Sloop in the East Indies. No records of this ship have survived for this period. He then appears on the
HECTOR, 74
Captain of the Hector c1794.
PHOENIX, 36
He commanded this ship from c 1796 to 24 June 1802 when he was paid off at Portsmouth. It is almost certain that he named his house after this ship.
NAMUR, 90
He commanded this ship from March/April 1805 until Dec 1807 when he returned to Portsmouth and resided in Alton Hampshire. It is on the Namur that he assisted at the capture of the four French line-of-battle ships that had escaped from the battle of Trafalgar On this occasion the Namur had 4 men killed and 8 wounded
HIBERNIA
All I can ascertain is that he served on Hibernia under the command of a Charles Cotton. He was paid off on 10 Dec 1808
In 1809 - 1811 he was based in the West Indies at the Navy Board Jamaica Station. He appears then to have been on Half Pay from then on, apart from the period from 1824 to 1827 when he appears to have been Commander in Chief of the Jamaica Station.
JAMAICA STATION
1812-1843
He is listed as Rear Admiral of the Fleet - West Indies from July 1810 and advanced to Vice Admiral in the Jamaica Station in June 1814. To some extent this contradicts information located in the full and half pay registers for him but research seems to indicate that he remained in the West Indies (or at least in command thereof) albeit not always on full pay until c1823.
The 1810 Captains letters suggests he was still in command of a ship but his title in Jamaica may well have been confirmed or honorary from 1809. One thing is fairly certain from looking at the records etc was that he was not permanently based in the West Indies during his time and there is no indication that his wife accompanied him, she just is never mentioned, whereas in some accounts clearly wives of other officers are.
In the records he is shown as Commander In Chief of Jamaica Station for the period 1824 to 1827 so it seems he spent much of his career attached to the West Indies.
There is also evidence that other Halsteds were connected to the West Indies. There is a Halstead Plantation which may have a connection, going back to c1620 and may be worth investigating.
Whilst carrying out research (in the West Indies) for another client our researcher came across a Juda Pellow Benjamin baptised in St Claroix where the supposed father was named as Lawrence Halstead. This was in March 1812. The entry read as follows:
“13 March 1812 Juda Pellow son of Rebecca Benjamin late of St Cuby, suspected father - Lawrence Halstead RN”. It is speculated that this was an illegitimate/extra marital son of Sir Lawrence Halstead bearing in mind that Juda's second forename was Pellow. The mother was a Rebecca Benjamin and there was another child born to Rebecca Benjamin, namely Rebecca in 1813. No father is given in this baptism entry either so we do not know if Lawrence had any involvement. It seems that this person may well have come to England and practiced as a Barrister at law. It appears that Judah had been raised by a Joseph Williams in the West Indies but again could not make a connection. There was a Joseph Williams as a Commander in the RN on Jamaica Station but this was later c 1824 - 1830. The investigation into this possible connection continues!