John Lindsay (admiral)

Sir John Lindsay KB
Sir John Lindsay as a young naval officer, by Nathaniel Hone
Born	1737
Died	4 June 1788 (aged 51)
Allegiance	Kingdom of Great Britain
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Rank	Rear Admiral
Commands held	East Indies Station Mediterranean Fleet
Battles/wars	Seven Years' War
Awards	Knight of the Order of the Bath
Spouse(s)	Mary Milner
Children	Dido Elizabeth Belle

Sir John Lindsay, KB (1737 – 4 June 1788) was a British naval officer of the 18th century, who achieved the rank of admiral late in his career. Joining the Navy during the Seven Years' War, he served off France, followed by service for several years as captain of a warship stationed in the West Indies. After war's end, he returned to Britain, serving as an MP for Aberdeen Burghs from 1767 to 1768. From August 1769 to March 1772 Lindsay was promoted to commodore and assigned as commander-in-chief of the East Indies Station. He resigned from the Navy for a period following the Battle of Ushant (1778) off the coast of France, during the American War of Independence. In 1784 he was assigned as commodore and commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean. In the last year of his life, he was promoted to rear admiral as an honorary position, as his failing health prevented him from taking a command.

He and his wife had no children together, but he was known to have three illegitimate children, including two daughters and a son, each by different women. One was Dido Elizabeth Belle, a mixed-race daughter born into slavery in 1761 in the West Indies. He entrusted the girl to his maternal uncle William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield and Mansfield to raise free in England. Murray served as Lord Chief Justice, ruling on cases important to the abolition of slavery. Belle was educated, married, and inherited money from Murray.