- John Lindsay (Royal Navy officer)
:"For other people of this name, see
John Lindsay (disambiguation) ."Sir John Lindsay KB (1737 –4 June 1788 ) was a British naval officer of the 18th century, and the father ofDido Elizabeth Belle .Family
His parents were Sir Alexander Lindsay of
Evelick orEvelix (nearDornoch inEaster Ross ) and Amelia Murray, daughter ofDavid Murray, 5th Viscount of Stormont and sister toWilliam Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield and Mansfield .John's sister Margaret Lindsay was tutored in painting by Allan Ramsay, with whom (in 1752) she later eloped and married, as his second wife — her parents were alienated from her by the marriage, but her brother John remained loyal to her until her death in 1782.
Life
Havana
John joined the navy during the
Seven Years' War . He was made alieutenant in 1756 commanding the fireship "Pluto", and as such was present on Sir Edward Hawke's 1757 expedition to blockade Rochefort. On29 September 1757 he was madecaptain of the 28 gunfrigate HMS "Trent" from 1757 to 1763) and as such served in the West Indies and in home waters during the war. "Trent" was present in Sir George Pocock's fleet at the taking ofHavana from the Spanish in 1762. During that action, he took over command of the 80 gun HMS "Cambridge" on1 July when her commanderWilliam Goostrey was killed by rifle fire from the Morro Castle, which he was attempting to capture. For this and ‘many strong proofs of his valour’ [R. Beatson, Naval and military memoirs of Great Britain, 3 vols. (1790), 2.550] shown in the battle he was rewarded with a permanent command of HMS "Cambridge", the 70 gun HMS "Marlborough" or the 74 gun HMS "Dragon" (it is unknown which he chose, and he was still in the "Trent" in December 1763) and aknighthood on his return to England (awarded10 February 1764 ).West and East Indies
Lindsay then returned to the West Indies, this time in command of the "Tartar", carrying one of
John Harrison 's chronometers for tests and with
Thomas Erskine as one of his midshipmen. [http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/erskine_thomas.htm] He returned to Britain in 1765 and on 19 September 1768 married Mary, daughter of Sir William Milner, though they had no children (at the end of his life, he had 3 illegitimate children — including Dido — by different women). He was MP for Aberdeen Burghs from 1767 to 1768. From August 1769 to March 1772 Lindsay was commodore andcommander-in-chief in theEast Indies , with hisbroad pennant flown from the frigate "Stag". Whilst away, he was appointed aknight of the Bath (28 June 1770 ) whilst still a relatively junior sea officer. Sent to secretly investigate dealings between theBritish East India Company and theIndia nnawab s (during which timeGeorge Paterson was his Secretary), this made him unpopular with the Company and he was soon recalled.Ushant
From March to May 1778 he was the very first captain of the
first-rate HMS "Victory", but was moved to be captain of the 90 gun HMS "Prince George" when Admiral Keppel decided to raise his flag in "Victory" (with John Campbell as hisflag captain ) when she was commissioned in May 1778. He commanded the "Prince George" in the disastrous Battle of Ushant on27 July 1778 and, after giving evidence against Sir Hugh Palliser to the ensuing courts martial, he resigned straight after Keppel and refused to accept any command during Lord Sandwich's administration of the Admiralty, thus missing theAmerican War of Independence .Later life and death
Sandwich and his successors still appreciated Lindsay's ability, and he became an
Admiralty Commissioner between April and December 1783 and then commodore and commander-in-chief in theMediterranean , with HMS "Trusty" as his flagship. As c-in-c he was present atNaples in June 1784, on24 June entertaining the king and queen on board his ship. However, soon afterwards his health broke down, forcing him to return to England. He was promoted "rear admiral of the red" on24 September 1787 , but for health reasons held it as an honorary role rather than an active one. He died atMarlborough , on his way from a health trip to Bath, on4 June 1788 , aged fifty-one, and buried inWestminster Abbey .Mansfield family tree
Notes
ources
*R. Beatson, Naval and military memoirs of Great Britain, 3 vols. (1790)
*J. Charnock, ed., Biographia navalis, 6 (1798)
*E. Haden-Guest, ‘Lindsay, John’, Houses of Parliament records, Commons, 1754–90, 3.44
* [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/16710?docPos=9 DNB]
*British Library, material on his appointment and some of his correspondence with the East India Company, Add. MS 18020
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.