Provo Wallis
Royal Navy Admiral of the Fleet (1791–1892)
title: "Provo Wallis" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1791-births", "1892-deaths", "canadian-men-centenarians", "knights-grand-cross-of-the-order-of-the-bath", "lords-of-the-admiralty", "persons-of-national-historic-significance-(canada)", "military-personnel-from-halifax,-nova-scotia", "pre-confederation-nova-scotia-people", "royal-navy-admirals-of-the-fleet", "royal-navy-personnel-of-the-napoleonic-wars", "royal-navy-personnel-of-the-war-of-1812", "royal-navy-personnel-of-the-crimean-war", "canadian-people-of-the-war-of-1812"] description: "Royal Navy Admiral of the Fleet (1791–1892)" topic_path: "people/1790s" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provo_Wallis" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Royal Navy Admiral of the Fleet (1791–1892) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox military person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| honorific_prefix | Sir |
| name | Provo Wallis |
| honorific_suffix | |
| birth_name | Provo William Parry Wallis |
| birth_date | |
| death_date | |
| image | WilliamParryWallisByRobertField.jpg |
| caption | 1813 portrait of Wallis by Robert Field |
| birth_place | Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| death_place | Funtington, England |
| allegiance | Great Britain |
| United Kingdom | |
| branch | Royal Navy |
| serviceyears | 1795–1892 |
| rank | Admiral of the Fleet |
| commands |
Senior Naval Officer, Gibraltar South East Coast of America Station | | battles | War of 1812 Pastry War | | awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath | | signature | Provo William Wallis Signature.jpg | ::
| honorific_prefix = Sir | name = Provo Wallis | honorific_suffix = | birth_name = Provo William Parry Wallis | birth_date = | death_date = | image = WilliamParryWallisByRobertField.jpg | caption = 1813 portrait of Wallis by Robert Field | birth_place = Halifax, Nova Scotia | death_place = Funtington, England | placeofburial = | placeofburial_label = | nickname = | allegiance = Great Britain United Kingdom | branch = Royal Navy | serviceyears = 1795–1892 | rank = Admiral of the Fleet | unit = | commands =
Senior Naval Officer, Gibraltar South East Coast of America Station | battles = War of 1812 Pastry War | awards = Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath | relations = | laterwork = | signature = Provo William Wallis Signature.jpg Admiral of the Fleet Sir Provo William Parry Wallis, (12 April 1791 – 13 February 1892) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer, following the capture of USS Chesapeake by the frigate during the War of 1812, the wounding of HMS Shannons captain and the death of her first lieutenant in the action, he served as the temporary captain of HMS Shannon as she returned to Halifax, Nova Scotia, with Chesapeake.
As commanding officer of the fifth-rate , Wallis earned the thanks of the people of Veracruz in Mexico when he protected them from French bombardment during the Pastry War. He went on to be Senior Naval Officer, Gibraltar, and then Commander-in-Chief on the South East Coast of America Station. Wallis was promoted to senior flag officer positions and was still carried on the active list at 100 years old when he died.
Early career
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/John_Christian_Schetky,_H.M.S.Shannon_Leading_Her_Prize_the_American_Frigate_Chesapeake_into_Halifax_Harbour(c.1830)(cropped).jpg" caption="capture of USS ''Chesapeake''"] ::
He was the son of Provo Featherstone Wallis, a clerk at the Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax, Nova Scotia, by his wife Elizabeth Lawlor. Wallis benefited from his father's desire to secure a naval career for his son. Knowing the rules for an officer's entry into the navy, his father managed to get him officially registered in May 1795, at the age of four, as an able seaman on the 36-gun frigate HMS Oiseau, under Captain Robert Murray.
In May 1798, young Provo became a volunteer in the 40-gun frigate where he remained (on paper at least) until September 1799 when he joined the 64-gun third-rate . He served on HMS Asia until September 1800, when he was promoted to midshipman in the 32-gun fifth-rate . HMS Cleopatra was the first ship he actually served aboard – he physically joined the ship in October 1804 – but by now he had amassed nearly a decade of seniority. In an action on 16 February 1805, HMS Cleopatra was captured by the French frigate Ville de Milan and the ship's company taken prisoner of war. Wallis was freed a week later when Ville de Milan was itself captured by the Royal Navy: he transferred to Ville de Milan which now became a British ship.
Wallis transferred to the third-rate in November 1806 and to the third-rate in February 1808 and, having been promoted to lieutenant on 13 November 1808, he transferred again to the sloop-of-war later that month. He subsequently served in the sloops HMS Observateur, and .
Wallis transferred to the 38-gun frigate in January 1812. HMS Shannon captured USS Chesapeake near Boston on 1 June 1813, during the War of 1812: HMS Shannons Captain, Philip Broke, was badly wounded during the action and her first lieutenant was killed.
Wallis served as the temporary captain of the British frigate for a period of exactly six days as she made her way back to Halifax, Nova Scotia, with Chesapeake flying the Blue Ensign above the Stars and Stripes, for which action he was promoted to commander on 9 July 1813.
Wallis was given command of the sloop at Sheerness in January 1814. Promoted to captain on 12 August 1819, he became commanding officer of the sixth-rate at Halifax in June 1824 and commanding officer of the fifth-rate on the North America and West Indies Station in April 1838. He earned the thanks of the people of Veracruz in Mexico when he protected them from French bombardment in Winter 1838 during the Pastry War.
Appointed as commodore (but remaining a post captain in substantive rank) he went on to be Senior Naval Officer, Gibraltar, with his broad pennant of the third-rate , in October 1843.
Senior command
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Provo_Wallis.jpg" caption="Wallis in the uniform of a senior flag officer"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/EpaulettesOfProvoWallisMaritimeCommandMuseum.JPG" caption="Wallis's [[epaulette]]s displayed in the [[Naval Museum of Halifax]], [[CFB Halifax"] ::
Promoted to rear-admiral on 27 August 1851, and promoted to admiral on 2 March 1863. and Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom on 12 February 1870.
In order to prevent admirals from dying as paupers, a special clause in the retirement scheme of 1870 provided that those officers who had commanded a ship before the end of the Napoleonic Wars should be retained on the active list: the six days Wallis was in command of HMS Shannon qualified him to remain on the active list until he died. He was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 24 May 1873 and promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 11 December 1875. The Admiralty suggested he retire when he reached his late nineties, as being on the active list meant he was liable for calling up for a seagoing command. Wallis instead replied he was ready to accept one.
Wallis died at his country home in Funtington in West Sussex on 13 February 1892 and was buried in St Mary's churchyard at Funtington.
Family
On 17 October 1817 Wallis married Juliana Massey; they had two daughters. Following the death of his first wife, he married Jemima Wilson, daughter of Sir Robert Wilson, on 21 July 1849.
Legacy
Wallis House in Ottawa is named after Wallis; the City of Ottawa has erected brass plaques, which were unveiled in 1990 and 1997 documenting the history of the building. The former Canadian Coast Guard Ship was also named after him. The main street in the Naval dockyard of Halifax, Nova Scotia, is also named "Provo Wallis Street" in his honour.
Effective dates of promotion
::data[format=table title="Promotions"]
| Rank | Date |
|---|---|
| Admiral of the Fleet | |
| Admiral | |
| Vice-Admiral | |
| Rear-Admiral | |
| Captain | |
| Commander | |
| Lieutenant | |
| Able seaman | 1 May 1795 |
| :: |
References
Sources
- Clowes, William Laird, Sir (1996–1997). The Royal Navy: a history from the earliest times to the present. Chatham Pub.
References
- Christie, Carl. "Wallis, Sir Provo William Parry".
- Ellis, p. 127-8
- Heathcote, p. 248
- Clowes, W. Laird (William Laird), Sir, 1856–1905.. (1996–1997). "The Royal Navy : a history from the earliest times to the present". Chatham Pub.
- HMS ''Curieux'' [[Ship grounding. ran aground]] and was wrecked on the coast of [[Guadeloupe]] in November 1809 and Wallis transferred to the fifth-rate {{HMS. Gloire. 1806
- {{London Gazette. (29 August 1851)
- Wallis became Commander-in-Chief, [[South East Coast of America Station]], with his flag in the third-rate {{HMS. Cumberland. 1842. (18 September 1857)
- {{London Gazette. (31 March 1863)
- {{London Gazette. (15 February 1870)
- {{London Gazette. (24 May 1873)
- {{London Gazette. (24 December 1875)
- "Salt Indeed: The Amazing Career of Lieutenant Provo Wallis of HMS Shannon". War of 1812.
- "Wallis House; Building housed seminary, barracks, public housing and hospital." Joanne Laucius. ''The Ottawa Citizen.'' Ottawa, Ontario: 7 May 1990. p. B.3.
- (17 January 2015). "Wallis House". National Defence Canada.
- "Changes to Coast Guard's fleet". Canadian Coast Guard.
- "Provo Wallis Street". Halifax Street Map.
- "Biography – WALLIS, Sir PROVO WILLIAM PARRY – Volume XII (1891–1900) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography".
- O'Byrne, William R.. (2012). "A Naval Biographical Dictionary.". Andrews UK.
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