Sir Hussey Vivian, the Master-General, entertained so favourable an opinion of the corps, that he felt it right, on the 6th October, to order increased encouragement to be given to non-commissioned officers of proper attainments and merits, by appointing them occasionally to be foremen of works in the royal engineer department. The first appointed under this order was sergeant Henry French,[281] and at distant intervals the following non-commissioned officers were promoted to that rank—viz., sergeants Nicolas Markey,[282] William Spry,[283] John Wood,[284] William Jago,[285] Hugh Munro,[286] John Hopkins,[287] second-corporal Daniel Rock,[288] sergeant William Sargent,[289] and quarter-master sergeant Noah Deary.[290] ----- Footnote 281: Had served upwards of twenty-two years in the corps; and was a shrewd man and a skilful carpenter and overseer. He was appointed in October, 1836, to Guernsey, where he died in February, 1854. His eldest son, a very promising young man, is now foreman of works in the department at the Tower. Footnote 282: Joined the corps a lad, and by perseverance made himself competent for higher duty. To smartness in person he united much activity of body, and in September, 1843, was advanced to the civil branch, first to Corfu and then to Gibraltar; where, in the excess of his zeal on the works, he fell from his horse by a stroke of the sun, and sustained an injury in the head. He is now at Dublin, a lunatic, passing away his life on a retirement of 32_l._ a-year. He served seventeen years in the sappers. Footnote 283: Was an excellent mason and very efficient as a foreman. He had been on a mission to Constantinople, and received from Sultan Mahmoud II. a gold medal for his services. After a service of twenty-one years in the corps, he was, in June, 1844, appointed to Gibraltar, where he fell into habits of excessive intemperance and committed suicide in 1852. Footnote 284: