§ MR. GILLIAT (Clapham)asked the First Lord of the Admiralty, Whether his attention has been called to the case of George Lionel Grover, late a Midshipman of the Bacchante, flagship in the East Indies, who has been discharged from the Navy, disabled with heart disease, consequent upon an attack of rheumatic fever contracted through exposure for 16 days during exceptionally bad weather in the wet season whilst cruising in an open boat for slavers on the East Coast of Africa, which arduous duty he perforned in a manner to call for the highest commendation from his Commanding Officer; whether, in view of the fact that the Regulations contain no provision for pension to officers of that rank, and having regard to the professional prospects in life of so promising a young officer being destroyed by the exceptional hardships of the Service in which he was employed, the Admiralty will consider whether some employment on shore could be given to young Grover; and, whether the Civil Service Commissioners could be asked, under Order in Council (Clause 7) of June l870, to appoint him to some clerkship in the Naval Offices where his nautical experience might be of service?
§ THE FIRST LORD (Lord GEORGE HAMILTON) (Middlesex, Ealing)The case is now under investigation. The Medical Reports at present before the 30 Admiralty do not show that the officer's disease is directly duo to the exposure in question. A further Report on this head has been called for from the Bacchante, the ship in which he served. The Regulations do contain provision for pension to officers of Mr. Grover's rank. Pensions of from 1s. to 2s. 6d. a-day may be awarded to subordinate officers invalided out of the Service for permanent disability not due to carelessness or constitutional causes; but whether he is eligible or not for such a pension depends upon the Report from the Bacchante. The clause in question was only intended for application to very exceptional cases, under which category Mr. Grover's case cannot be classed.