John Byron
| John Byron | |
|---|---|
 John Byron, by Joshua Reynolds, 1759 |
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| Born | 8 November 1723 |
| Died | 10 April 1786 |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Great Britain |
| Service/branch |  Royal Navy |
| Rank | Vice Admiral |
| Commands held | HMS Siren HMS Dolphin |
| Battles/wars | |
Vice Admiral The Hon. John Byron, RN (8 November 1723 – 10 April 1786) was a Royal Navy officer. He was known as Foul-weather Jack because of his frequent encounters with bad weather at sea.
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Early career [edit]
Byron was the son of William Byron, 4th Baron Byron and Frances Berkeley. He joined the navy in 1731,[1] accompanying George Anson on his circumnavigation of the globe as a midshipman. On 14 May 1741, Byron's ship, HMS Wager, was shipwrecked on the coast of Patagonia,[1] and the survivors decided to split in two teams, one to make its way by boat to Rio de Janeiro, the other, John Byron's, to sail North and meet Spaniards. He described his adventures and the Wager Mutiny in The Narrative of the Honourable John Byron (1768), which sold well enough to appear in several editions. These experiences form the basis of the novel The Unknown Shore by Patrick O'Brian, which closely follows Byron's own account.
Byron was appointed captain of HMS Siren in December 1746.[1]
Seven Years War [edit]
In 1760 he was in command of a squadron sent to destroy the fortifications at Louisbourg, which had been captured by the British two years before. In July of that year he defeated the French flotilla sent to relieve New France at the Battle of Restigouche.
Between June 1764 and May 1766 Byron completed his own circumnavigation of the globe as captain of HMS Dolphin. This was the first such circumnavigation of less than 2 years.[2] During this voyage, in 1765, he took possession of the Falkland Islands on behalf of Britain on the grounds of prior discovery[citation needed], and in so doing was nearly the cause of a war between Great Britain and Spain, both countries having armed fleets ready to contest the sovereignty of the barren islands. Later Byron discovered islands of the Tuamotus, Tokelau and the Gilbert Islands, and visited Tinian in the Northern Marianas Islands.
In 1769 he was appointed governor of Newfoundland, an office he held for the next three years.[1] He became rear admiral on 31 March 1775, and vice admiral on 29 January 1778. He was made Commander-in-chief of the British fleet in the West Indies in 1778 and 1779 during the American War of Independence. He unsuccessfully attacked a French fleet under the Comte d'Estaing at the Battle of Grenada in July 1779.[1] Byron was then briefly Commander-in-Chief, North American Station from 1 October 1779.[3]
Family [edit]
On 8 September 1748 he married Sophia Trevanion, daughter of John Trevanion of Caerhays in Cornwall, by whom he had two sons and seven daughters, three of whom died in infancy. Their eldest son, John "Mad Jack" Byron, in turn fathered the poet George Gordon Byron, the future 6th Baron Byron. John Byron was also the grandfather of George Anson Byron, another admiral and explorer and later the 7th Baron Byron. He was the brother of Hon. George Byron, married to Frances Levett, daughter of Elton Levett of Nottingham, a descendant of Ambrose Elton, Esq., High Sheriff of Herefordshire in 1618 and a surgeon in Nottingham.[4][5]
Death [edit]
John Byron died on 10 April 1786. His remains were buried in the Berkeley family vault situated beneath the chancel of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Twickenham.[6]
See also [edit]
- Baron Byron
- Cape Byron in Australia, named after Byron
- List of Newfoundland and Labrador lieutenant-governors
- List of people of Newfoundland and Labrador
- European and American voyages of scientific exploration
References [edit]
- ^ a b c d e W. A. B. Douglas. "BYRON, JOHN". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
- ^ "Circumnavigation: Notable global maritime circumnavigations". Solarnavigator.net. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
- ^ James Gambier at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ^ The Genealogy of the Existing British Peerage with Brief Histories of the Family Histories of the Nobility, Edmund Lodge, London, 1832. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
- ^ A Genealogical Account of the Mayo and Elton Families of the Counties of Wilts and Hereford, Charles Herbert Mayo, London, 1882. Books.google.com. 2006-06-26. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
- ^ http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=86
External links [edit]
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Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Byron, Hon. John. |
- Biography of John Byron at thePeerage.com
- Biography at Government House The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador
- Ships of the World: An Historical Encyclopedia - HMS Dolphin
"Byron, John". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Hugh Palliser |
Commodore Governor of Newfoundland 1769–1771 |
Succeeded by Molyneux Shuldham |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by James Gambier |
Commander-in-Chief, North American Station 1779 |
Succeeded by Mariot Arbuthnot |
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