Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 43.djvu/121

 1747) Palliser was moved into the 50-gun ship Sutherland, and in the following March was severely wounded by the accidental explosion of the arm-chest, so that he was obliged to return to England for the recovery of his health. By December he was appointed to the Sheerness frigate, in which he was sent out to the East Indies with news of the peace. He joined Boscawen on the Coromandel coast in July 1749, and returned to England in the following April, when the ship was ordered round to Deptford and was paid off.

In January 1753 Palliser was appointed to the Yarmouth, guardship at Chatham, from which in March he was moved to the Seahorse, a small frigate employed during that and the next year on the coast of Scotland in the prevention of smuggling and of treasonable intercourse with France and Holland. In the end of September 1754 the Seahorse was ordered to refit at Sheerness; thence she went to Cork, and sailed in January 1755, in charge of a convoy of transports, for Virginia. By taking the southern route, a course with which the navigators of the day were not yet familiar, he avoided the winter storms, and arrived in the Chesapeake in less than eight weeks, with the ships in good order and the men in good health. After waiting some months in Hampton Roads, he sailed for England on 26 July, Commodore Keppel taking a passage with him, and arrived at Spithead on 22 Aug. [see ]. A month later he was appointed to the Eagle at Plymouth, and on joining her was sent early in October on a cruise off Ushant, where he captured several vessels coming home from Newfoundland. Within a fortnight he wrote that he had 217 prisoners on board, and he had sent some away. His cruise continued, apparently with equal success, till 22 Nov.

During 1756 the Eagle was one of the fleet cruising off Ushant and in the Bay of Biscay under Hawke, Boscawen, or Knowles, and in 1757 was with Holburne off Louisbourg. During the summer of 1758 Palliser commanded the Shrewsbury in the fleet off Ushant under Anson; and in 1759, still in the Shrewsbury, took part in the operations in the St. Lawrence leading up to the reduction of Quebec. In 1760 he was with Sir Charles Saunders [q. v.] in the Mediterranean, and for some time had command of a detached squadron in the Levant. In 1762 he was sent out to Newfoundland with a small squadron to retake St. John's; but that service had been already accomplished, and he returned to England. In April 1764 he was appointed governor and commander-in-chief at Newfoundland, with his broad pennant in the Guernsey. This was then a summer appointment, the ships coming home for the winter; but in Palliser's case was twice renewed, in 1765 and 1766, during which time he acted as a commissioner for adjusting the French claims to fishing rights, and directed a survey of the coasts, which was carried out by James Cook [q. v.] afterwards known as the circumnavigator.

In 1770 Palliser was appointed comptroller of the navy, and on 6 Aug. 1773 was created a baronet. On 31 March 1775 he was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral, and was shortly afterwards appointed one of the lords of the admiralty, under the Earl of Sandwich [see, fourth ]. In the same year, by the will of his old chief, Sir Charles Saunders, he came into a legacy of 5,000l., and was appointed lieutenant-general of marines in succession to Saunders. On 29 Jan. 1778 he was promoted to be vice-admiral of the blue; and in March, when Admiral Keppel was appointed to the command of the Channel fleet, Palliser, while still retaining his seat at the admiralty, was appointed to command in the third post under him.

For three days (24–27 July) the English and the French fleets were in presence of each other, Keppel vainly trying to bring the enemy to action. On the morning of the 27th Palliser's squadron was seen to have fallen to leeward, and Rear-admiral Campbell, the captain of the fleet, made a signal to it to make more sail. This was a matter of routine, and it does not appear that Keppel had personally anything to do with the order; but Palliser was much annoyed, and his annoyance increased when Keppel was enabled, by a shift of wind, to bring the enemy to action without waiting for the line to get into perfect order, or for Palliser to get into his place. After a partial engagement the two fleets drew clear of each other, and Keppel made the signal to reform the line, hoping to renew the battle. Palliser, however, did not obey. He had attempted, with the rear squadron, to renew the action at once, and had wore towards the enemy, but, finding himself unsupported, wore back again. In spite of signals and messages, he did not get into his station till after nightfall. When the next day broke the French fleet was not in sight, and Keppel returned to Plymouth.

Keppel made no complaint of Palliser, and the fleet soon left for a cruise off Ushant. In its absence the failure was ascribed in the newspapers to Palliser's conduct, and on the return of the fleet Palliser rudely desired