Vice Admiral John Byron, RN

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Byron

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 bad luck with weather.

Early career

He joined the navy in 1731, accompanying Baron Anson on his circumnavigation as a midshipman. On 14 May 1741, Byron's ship, HMS Wager, was shipwrecked on the coast of Patagonia, 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 commissioned Post Captain of HMS Siren (24) in December 1746.

Seven Years War

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.

John Byron Death NoticeBetween June 1764 and May 1766 Byron completed his own circumnavigation as captain of HMS Dolphin. This was the first circumnavigation in less than 2 years. During this voyage he took possession of the Falkland Islands on the part of Britain, in 1765, on the ground of prior discovery, and his doing so was nearly the cause of a war between Great Britain and Spain, both countries having armed fleets 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. 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. Byron was then briefly Commander-in-Chief, North American Station from 1 October 1779.

Family

On 8 September 1748, he married Sophia Trevannion, daughter of John Trevannion of Carhays 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, who would be another admiral and explorer and 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.

http://thepeerage.com/p2745.htm#i27447

William Byron, 5th Baron Byron of Rochdale was born on 5 November 1722.1 He was the son of William Byron, 4th Baron Byron of Rochdale and Hon. Frances Berkeley.2 He married Elizabeth Shaw, daughter of Charles Shaw and Frances Lyford, on 28 March 1747, with £70,000.2,3 He died on 19 May 1798 at age 75, without surviving issue.1 He was buried on 10 June 1798 at Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, EnglandG.3,4

    He succeeded as the 5th Baron Byron of Rochdale, co. Lancaster [E., 1643] on 8 August 1736.1 He gained the rank of Lieutenant in the Royal Navy.3 He held the office of Master of Royal Stag Hounds between 1763 and 1765.3 On 26 January 1765 he killed his cousin William Chaworth, either in a duel or during a less formal fight in a room the two men had occupied alone for a time following a dinner among a club of gentlemen of the county at which a quarrel had flared up.1 From 16 April 1765 to 17 April 1765 he was tried by his peers, found guilty of manslaughter (119 to 4) but was merely fined and formally discharged under the Statute of Privilege.1 Children of William Byron, 5th Baron Byron of Rochdale and Elizabeth Shaw Hon. Henrietta Diana Byron2 d. b 1798 Hon. Caroline Byron2 d. b 1798 William Byron4 b. 7 Jun 1748, d. c May 1749 Hon. William Byron+2 b. 27 Oct 1749, d. 22 Jun 1776 Citations [S37] BP2003 volume 1, page 630. See link for full details for this source. Hereinafter cited as. [S37] [S37] BP2003. [S37] [S6] G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume II, page 456. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage. [S2] Peter W. Hammond, editor, The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times, Volume XIV: Addenda & Corrigenda (Stroud, Gloucestershire, U.K.: Sutton Publishing, 1998), page 129. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage, Volume XIV.