Peter Warren (Royal Navy officer)

Admiral Sir Peter Warren, KB (1703 or 1704 – 29 July 1752) was a British naval officer from Ireland who commanded the naval forces in the attack on the French fortress of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia in 1745. He later sat as MP for Westminster.

He was the youngest son of Michael Warren and Catherine Plunkett, nee Alymer (his mother was the first wife of Sir Nicholas Plunkett).

A brother of his mother was Matthew Aylmer, 1st Baron Aylmer (died 1720), admiral and commander-in-chief, had entered the navy under the protection of the Duke of Buckingham, as a lieutenant, in 1678.

Warren signed on as an ordinary seaman in Dublin in 1716 when he was 13 years old. He rapidly rose in the ranks, becoming a Captain in 1727. His ship patrolled the American colonial waters to provide protection from French forces. He became involved in colonial politics and land speculation. In 1731 he married Susannah Delancey (1707-1771), whose brother James was the chief justice and lieutenant governor of the Province of New York.

Warren's lands included several thousand acres on the south side of the Mohawk River west of Schenectady, New York. In 1738 he hired his nephew William Johnson to manage these western lands. In 1744 he was made Commodore and commanded a 16 ship squadron off the Leeward Islands capturing 24 ships in four months. In 1745 Warren commanded a group of ships that supported the Massachusetts forces in the capture of Louisbourg. The prize system of the time allowed naval officers to profit from the capture of enemy ships, and this expedition earned Warren a fortune, a promotion to the rank of Rear Admiral of the Blue, and a knighthood. Peter and Susannah had six children, but two died in 1744 during the smallpox epidemic in New York. He moved his wife and four surviving daughters to England in 1747. He was second in command of the British fleet on the "Devonshire" at the Battle of Cape Finisterre. His conduct in the battle won him further fame, a promotion to Admiral and much prize-money. While on a visit to Ireland in 1752 he became ill and died.

His granddaughter Susanna Maria Skinner was married to Henry Gage, 3rd Viscount Gage, son of General Thomas Gage. (Her father Lt. General William Skinner was a brother of Loyalist General Cortlandt Skinner and both brothers were grandsons of Stephanus Van Cortlandt; a daughter of Cortland Skinner named Catherine was married to Sir William Henry Robinson, a son of loyalist Beverley Robinson. Bevereley Robinson was a first cousin once removed of Judith Robinson, the first wife of patriot Carter Braxton).

The towns of Warren, Rhode Island and Warren, New Hampshire are named after him.

Warren Family tree

Sir Christopher Plunkett Sir Christopher Aylmer, Baron Balrath =Margaret =Lady Plunkett (dau. of Matthew, 5th Earl of Louth)


Sir Nicholas Plunkett = Catherine Aylmer = Michael Warren of Warrenstown, Co. Meath.
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Oliver & several sons & 1 dau Peter =Susanah de Lancey
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| | Charlotte Warren Ann Warren Susanna =Willoughby, 4th Earl of Abingdon =Charles, 1st Baron Southampton =Colonel Skinner


Montague Bertie, George FitzRoy, 5th Earl of Abingdon 2nd Baron Southampton

ources

* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=1710 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
*http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?mkey=mw06597
*http://web.ukonline.co.uk/Members/nigel.battysmith/Database/D0001/I12224.html
*http://www.oldandsold.com/articles13/greenwich-village-3.shtml