- GB-2014-WSA-17349
- Person
- 1684-1757
VERNON, EDWARD, second son of Right Hon. James Vernon MP, Watford, Herts., Secretary of State, and Mary, dau. of Sir John Buck MP; nephew of Francis Vernon (KS 1649, qv); b. 12 Nov 1684; adm. 1692 (D. Ford, Admiral Vernon and the Navy, 1907, 2); left 1700; entered Royal Navy as Kingís Letter Boy on HMS Shrewsbury 10 May 1700; Lieut., 16 Sep 1702; Cdr.; Capt., 22 Jan 1705/6; Rear-Adm.; Vice-Adm., 9 Jul 1739; Adm. of the White Apr 1745; commanded expedition to West Indies 1739-42; captured Porto Bello 22 Nov 1739, but failed at Cartagena, Cuba and Panama; in command in North Sea 1745; cashiered 11 Apr 1746, for attacking the Admiralty in anonymous pamphlets; MP Penryn 1722-34, Portsmouth 21 Feb - 27 Apr 1741, Ipswich from 1741; apostrophised as the “gallant Vernon” in Thomson’s Seasons, Summer, lines 1040-51; known in the navy as “Old Grog”, being the first to issue rum diluted with water; m. 15 Jul 1729 Sarah, dau. of Thomas Best, Chatham, Kent, brewer; d. 30 Oct 1757. Monument in Westminster Abbey. DNB.