John Byron
| John Byron | |
|---|---|
Honourable John Byron, by Joshua Reynolds, 1758
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| Born | 8 November 1723 |
| Died | 10 April 1786 (aged 62) London, England |
| Allegiance |
 Kingdom of Great Britain
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| Service/branch |
 Royal Navy
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| Years of service | 1731–1786 |
| Rank | Vice Admiral |
| Commands held |
HMS Siren HMS Dolphin Leeward Islands Station |
| Battles/wars | |
Vice Admiral The Hon. John Byron, RN (8 November 1723 – 10 April 1786) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. He was known as Foul-weather Jack because of his frequent encounters with bad weather at sea. As a midshipman, he sailed in the squadron under George Anson on his voyage around the world, though Byron made it to southern Chile, and returned to England with the captain of HMS Wager. He was governor of Newfoundland following Hugh Palliser, who left in 1768. He circumnavigated the world as a commodore with his own squadron in 1764-1766. He fought in battles in The Seven Years' War and the American Revolution. He rose to Vice Admiral of the White before his death in 1786.
His grandsons include the poet George Gordon Byron and George Anson Byron, admiral and explorer, who were the 6th and 7th Baron Byron, respectively.
Byron was the son of William Byron, 4th Baron Byron and Frances Berkeley. He joined the Royal Navy in 1731. In 1740, he accompanied George Anson on his voyage around the world as a midshipman aboard one of the several ships in the squadron. On 14 May 1741, HMS Wager under Captain Cheap (as Captain Dandy Kidd had died), was shipwrecked on the coast of Chile on what is now called Wager Island and Byron was one of the survivors. The survivors decided to split in two teams, one to make its way by boat to Rio de Janeiro on the Atlantic coast; the other, including John Byron and the Captain, to sail north along the Spanish colonial coast.
Captain Cheap at Wager Island had a party of 19 men after the deserters rejoined the camp. This included the surgeon Elliot and Lieutenant Hamilton who had been cast adrift with him plus midshipmen John Byron and Campbell who had been on the barge. They rowed up the coast but were punished by continuous rain, headwinds and waves that threatened the boats. One night while the men slept on shore, one of the boats was capsized while at anchor and was swept out to sea with its two boatkeepers. One of the men got ashore but the other drowned. As it was now impossible for them all to fit in the remaining boat, four marines were left ashore with muskets to fend for themselves. The winds prevented them from getting around the headland so they returned to pick up the marines only to find them gone. They returned to Wager Island in early February 1742. With one death on the journey, there were now 13 in the group.
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