John Willett Payne

John Willett Payne
John Willett Payne (Henry Bone, 1804)
Born	23 April 1752 St Kitts, Leeward Islands
Died	17 November 1803 Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1767 to 1803
Rank	Rear-Admiral
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War • Battle of Sullivan's Island French Revolutionary Wars • Glorious First of June
Other work	MP for Huntingdon, 1787–1796

John Willett Payne (23 April 1752 – 17 November 1803) was an officer of the Royal Navy who also served as a close friend, advisor and courtier to Prince George before and during his first regency. Payne was notorious as a and scoundrel, but was also a Member of Parliament and noted for his bravery in several military actions during the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolutionary Wars. Out of favour in his later years, Payne was reconciled with the Prince in 1799, but died whilst still in the service aged 51, from an illness which developed during blockade operations in the Western Approaches.

Payne was born in 1752, son of Ralph Payne, Chief Justice of St Kitts and his wife Margaret née Gallaway. His elder brother Ralph Payne would later become Baron Lavington. Payne was educated at Dr. Bracken's Academy in Greenwich and later attended the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth to train as an officer. During this time he became friends with Hugh Seymour Conway, with whom he had a lifelong friendship and close naval partnership. In 1769 he left the academy to join HMS Quebec.

Quebec served in the West Indies but after only a few months Payne moved to the ship of the line HMS Montagu before returning to Britain in 1773 aboard the sloop HMS Falcon. Payne briefly joined HMS Egmont but soon was attached to the large frigate HMS Rainbow for a cruise to the Guinea Coast. In 1775 he was back in England, where he passed for lieutenant aboard Egmont.