George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington
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George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington, KB (1668 – 17 January 1733) was a British Admiral and statesman of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. His career included service as First Lord of the Admiralty during the reign of King George II.
Byng was born at Wrotham, Kent, England. At the age of 10 (1678) he entered the British navy as a King's Letter Boy. He left the navy for a brief time to join an army garrison stationed at Tangier, but in 1683 Byng rejoined the navy as a lieutenant, and shipped for the East Indies. In 1688 he was instrumental in instigating the British navy to switch allegiance to William III, Prince of Orange. This naval force took part in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and William was installed as King of England, thus insuring Byng's rapid rise in rank and fortune.
In 1702 Byng was given command of a vessel, the Nassau, and took part in the capture and burning of the French Fleet at Vigo. The next year Byng was promoted to Rear-Admiral. In 1704] he was in the Mediterranean under the command of Sir Cloudesley Shovell whose force gained control of Gibraltar. Byng took part in the Battle of Malaga, for which he received a knighthood.
In 1708 Byng had been promoted to full admiral, and took part in the struggle against the Jacobean uprising in Scotland. In 1718 Byng commanded the fleet which routed the Spanish Fleet at the Battle of Cape Passaro, thwarting the attempt of the Spanish to take Sicily.
Byng was rewarded handsomely for this victory by George I and given full power to negotiate with the various princes and states of Italy, on behalf of the English crown. In 1719 he assisted the Germans in taking Messina, and destroyed the remaining Spanish ships which forced the Spanish king to accept the terms of the Quadruple Alliance. On his return to England in 1721 he was made rear-admiral of Great Britain, a member of the privy council, Baron Byng of Southill in the county of Bedford, and 1st Viscount Torrington in Devon.
In 1725 Byng was made a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath and in 1727, on the accession of George II, he was made First Lord of the Admiralty.
Byng's administration of the Admiralty was distinguished by the establishment of the Royal Naval College at Portsmouth. He died in 1733 and is buried at Southill, Bedfordshire.
Byng had 15 children, and two of his 11 sons — Pattee (1699-1747) and George (1701-1750) — became respectively the 2nd. and 3rd. Viscounts Torrington. His third-eldest son was the notorious and unfortunate British admiral, John Byng, who was controversially court-martialled and shot at the outbreak of the Seven Years' War in Europe.
The 1st. Viscount Torrington's descendants retain the title to the present day.
| Preceded by: New Creation |
Viscount Torrington 1721–1733 |
Succeeded by: Pattee Byng |
