Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 1 Vol 7.djvu/29

 SAINT VINCENT. 27 Greenwich ; entered the navy 4 Jan. 1748/9, in which he became Post Captain, 1760; Hear Admiral 1787 ; Vice Admiral 1793; Admiral of the blue, 179:') ; of the white 179!), and uf the red ISO".. He was M.P. for Launceston, 1783-84, for Cirent Yarmouth 1781-90, and for Chipping Wycombe 1790-94. His naval career wan long anil creditable. On 19 April 1782 he captured the French ship " Pegase " (74 gun*) when in command of the " Foudroyant " (80 guns), for which service he was made, 28 May 1782. K.B., becoming, accordingly, 2 Jan. 1817, G.C.B. He was Com.-in-Chief on the West India station. 1793-9. r >; effecting, in conjunction with Gen. Sir Charles Urey (afterwards tr. Karl Grey), the reduction of the islands of Martinique, .St. Lucia, 4cc. From 1 795 to 1799 he was Com, in Chief in the Mediterranean, and, as such, with IS ships, put to Sight, off Cape St. Vincent, 14 Feb. 1797 the Spanish fleet of 27 ships, of which four (tho' this was chiefly owing to the services of Nelson) were captured. This dispersal was however most opportune, as being fatal to the proposed invasion of England by the French in conjunction with the Spanish fleet, which now retreated to Cadiz. Sir John Jrrvis accordingly was rewarded three months later not only by a peerage, but by being <•/•. (per tuition) an Earl (Saint Vincent) as afsd. He was also thanked by both houses of pari, and giveu an annual pension of £3,000, of which 11,000 was for ever to devolve with the title. Iu 1797 lie took au active part iu suppressing the mutiny at the Nore, continuing till 1799, when from ill-health he resigned his command, to keep the Spanish fleet shut up at Cadi/.. From 1800 to 1801 and again from 180(5 to 1807 he was Com. iu Chief in the Channel : I'.C. 1801 ; First Lord of the Admiralty (in the Addiugton ministry), 1801 — 1S04, in which ottr.-e his vigorous reforms caused him to be attacked iu pari., which body, however, in lSOti carried a resolution commending in the highest degree his conduct. He had been, while in office, in 1801, <v. a Viscount [Saint Vincent of Htaford) with a spec. rem. as afsd., inasmuch as he had no issue( 11 ) to inherit his honours. Joint Commissioner to Lisbon, Aug. to Oct 180b' ; Acting Admiral of the Fleet, 1806-07 ; F.R.S., 21 Dec. 1809 : Gen. of Marines, 7 May 1814; Hon. Knight Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword of Portugal, 15 Sep. 1816. At the coronation of Geo. IV. he was made, 19 July 1821, Admiral of the Fleet. ( h ) He m. 5 Juue 1783, at St. Geo. Han. Sq., his cousin Martha, da. of his maternal uncle the IU. Hon. Sir Thomas P.uikbii, L.-Oh. Baron of the Exchequer (1742-72), by his second wife, Martha, da. of Edward Stkong, of Greenwich. She, wdio was b. 1741, il. 8 Feb. 1816, aftgr a long illness, aged 75, at Itoehetts, near l.reutwood, co. Essex, aud was 'jui: at Oaverswall, co. Essex. Will pr. lSlti. He it. s.p. 14 March 1823 at Koclietts afsd. in his 89th year, and was bur. at Stone, co. Stafford.^) M.I. at St. Paul's cathedral, Loudon. Will dat. 14 Oct. 1817, pr. 1S23. At his death the Earldom oj Saint Vincent and the Barony of Jervis of Meaford became extinct, but the Viscountcy devolved as below. II. 1923. 2. Edwakd Jeiivis (Kicketts, afterwards Jervis), Vis- count Saint Vincent ok Meakokd, nephew of the above, inherited ( a ) His elder and only br. William Jervis, of Meaford, Gent. Usher of the Privy Chamber, had d. s.p. fi March 1813 aged 84, and the elder of his two sisters, had also rf. s.p. before the date. His younger sister, Mrs. Hieketts, survived him (she d. 12 March 182S; and it seems strange, inasmuch as in 1801 the peerage was entailed not only on her sons but even on her daughter, that she herself should have been omitted. (°) " The Kiug personally sending him the baton, with heavy gold mountings ; the honour was the more marked, as there ciuld be only one officer of the rank, which was already held by the Duke ol Clarence" [Sat. Jl'io,//:} J") "The critical state of domestic and continental politics iu the early part of 1797 and the great numerical superiority of the Spaniards euhauced the fame of the battle of St. Vincent, and gave the victorious admiral a reputation which appears above his merits. As a tactician Jervis can hardly be placed in the first rank ; on the other hand his reform of the discipline of the navy, his numerous improvements iu the organisation of our ships ami fleets, his suppression of the mutinous spirit among thi seamen gave him a special claim to distinction iu a field iu which he has no equal '* [A r .i/. Bioyr.]. He has been painted many times, vi:., as a young man by G 'tes, in middle age by Komuey, and when old by Carbonuier ; also twice by "o"chy, twice by Hoppuer, of one of which last there is a spirited engraving iu Kyle's " UJie. Bar."