John Byng

For other people named John Byng, see John Byng (disambiguation).
John Byng

Portrait of John Byng by Thomas Hudson, 1749
Born 29 October 1704
Died 14 March 1757(1757-03-14) (aged 52)
Allegiance  Great Britain
Service/branch  Royal Navy
Rank Admiral
Battles/wars

Seven Years' War

Admiral John Byng (baptised 29 October 1704 – 14 March 1757)[1] was a Royal Navy officer. After joining the navy at the age of thirteen, he participated at the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718. Over the next thirty years he built up a reputation as a solid naval officer and received promotion to vice-admiral in 1747.

Byng is best known for the loss of Minorca in 1756 at the beginning of the Seven Years' War. His ships badly needed repair and he was relieved of his command before he could see to his ships or secure the extra forces he required. He was court-martialled and found guilty of failing to "do his utmost" to prevent Minorca falling to the French following the Battle of Minorca. He was sentenced to death and shot by firing squad on 14 March 1757.

Early life and career

John Byng was born in the village of Southhill, Bedfordshire in England, the fifth son of Rear-Admiral Sir George Byng (later Admiral the 1st Viscount Torrington).[2] He entered the Royal Navy in March 1718,[1] aged 13, when his father was a well-established admiral at the peak of a uniformly successful career. George Byng had supported King William III in his successful bid to be crowned King of England in 1689 and had seen his own stature and fortune grow. He was a highly skilled naval commander, had won distinction in a series of battles, and was held in esteem by the monarchs whom he served. In 1721, he was rewarded by King George I with a viscountcy, being created Viscount Torrington.[3]

Early in his career, John Byng was assigned to a series of Mediterranean postings. In 1723, at age 19, he was made a Lieutenant, and at 23, rose to become Captain of HMS Gibraltar. His Mediterranean service continued until 1739 and was without much action.[4]

In 1742, he was appointed Commodore-Governor of the British colony of Newfoundland.[4]

He was promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1745, and to Vice-Admiral in 1747.[4] He was Member of Parliament for Rochester from 1751 until his death.[5]

In 1754, Byng commissioned the building of the Palladian mansion Wrotham Park in Hertfordshire, which remains in the family to this day. It is doubtful whether he ever lived there.[6]

Battle of Minorca

We have lately been told
Of two admirals bold,
Who engag'd in a terrible Fight:
They met after Noon,
Which I think was too soon,
As they both ran away before Night.
Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The island of Minorca had been a British possession since 1708, when it was captured during the War of the Spanish Succession. On the approach of the Seven Years' War, it was threatened by a French naval attack from Toulon, and was invaded in 1756.[7]

Byng was serving in the Channel at the time and was ordered to the Mediterranean to relieve the British garrison of Fort St Philip, at Port Mahon.[7] Despite his protests, he was not given enough money or time to prepare the expedition properly. His sailing orders were inexplicably delayed by five days, and this turned out to be crucial to the lack of success of the expedition. He set out with ten unseaworthy ships that leaked and were inadequately manned. Byng's marines were landed to make room for the soldiers who were to reinforce the garrison, and he feared that, if he met a French squadron, he would be dangerously undermanned.[7] His correspondence shows that he left prepared for failure, that he did not believe that the garrison could hold out against the French force, and that he was already resolved to come back from Minorca if he found that the task presented any great difficulty. He wrote home to that effect to the Admiralty from Gibraltar, whose governor refused to provide soldiers to increase the relief force.[7]

Byng sailed on 8 May 1756. Before he arrived, the French landed 15,000 troops on the western shore of Minorca, spreading out to occupy the island. On 19 May, Byng was off the east coast of Minorca and endeavoured to open communications with the fort. The French squadron appeared before he could land any soldiers.[7]

The Battle of Minorca was fought on the following day. Byng had gained the weather gauge and bore down on the French fleet at an angle, so that his leading ships went into action while the rest were still out of effective firing range, including Byng's flagship.[7] The French badly damaged the leading ships and slipped away. Byng's flag captain pointed out to him that, by standing out of his line, he could bring the centre of the enemy to closer action, but he declined because Thomas Mathews had been dismissed for so doing. The French were equal in number to the British and sailed away undamaged.[7]

Byng remained near Minorca for four days without being able to re-establish communication with the fort or sighting the French. He realised that there was little more that he could do without effecting badly needed repairs to his ships. Gibraltar was the nearest port available for carrying out repairs and landing his wounded men, and Byng's plan was to sail there, repair his ships, and try once again to get extra forces before returning to Fort St Philip. He accomplished this and, after the reinforcements arrived, Byng began preparation for a return to Minorca to relieve the garrison. However, before his fleet could sail, another ship arrived from England with further instructions, relieving Byng of his command and taking him back to England where he was placed in custody. Ironically, Byng was finally promoted to full Admiral on 1 June, following the action off Minorca.

The garrison on Minorca held out against the overwhelming French numbers until 29 June, when it was forced to capitulate. Under negotiated terms, the garrison was allowed passage back to England, and the fort and island came under French control.

Court-martial

The failure to hold Fort St Philip initially caused public outrage among fellow officers and the country at large.[8][9] Byng was brought home to be tried by court-martial for breach of the Articles of War, which had recently been revised to mandate capital punishment for officers who did not do their utmost against the enemy, either in battle or pursuit.

The revision to the Articles followed an event in 1745 during the War of the Austrian Succession, when a young lieutenant named Baker Phillips was court-martialed and shot after his ship was captured by the French. His captain had done nothing to prepare the vessel for action and was killed almost immediately by a broadside. Taking command, the inexperienced junior officer was forced to surrender the ship when she could no longer be defended.[7] The negligent behaviour of Phillips's captain was noted by the subsequent court martial and a recommendation for mercy was entered,[10] but Phillips' sentence was approved by the Lords Justices of Appeal.[11] This sentence angered some of parliament, who felt that an officer of higher rank would likely have been spared or else given a light punishment, and that Phillips had been executed because he was a powerless junior officer and thus a useful scapegoat. The Articles of War were amended to become one law for all: the death penalty for any officer of any rank who did not do his utmost against the enemy in battle or pursuit.[7]

The court martial sitting in judgement on Byng acquitted him of personal cowardice and disaffection, and convicted him only for not having done his utmost, since he chose not to pursue the superior French fleet, deciding instead to protect his own.[9] Once the court determined that Byng had "failed to do his utmost", it had no discretion over punishment under the Articles of War, and therefore condemned Byng to death. However, its members recommended that the Lords of the Admiralty ask King George II to exercise his royal prerogative of mercy.

Clemency denied and execution

The Shooting of Admiral Byng, artist unknown

First Lord of the Admiralty Richard Grenville-Temple was granted an audience with the King to request clemency, but this was refused in an angry exchange. Four members of the board of the court martial petitioned Parliament, seeking to be relieved from their oath of secrecy to speak on Byng's behalf. The Commons passed a measure allowing this, but the Lords rejected the proposal.[12]

Prime Minister William Pitt the Elder was aware that the Admiralty was at least partly to blame for the loss at Minorca due to the poor manning and repair of the fleet. Lord Newcastle, the politician responsible, had by now joined the Prime Minister in an uneasy political coalition and this made it difficult for Pitt to contest the court martial verdict as strongly as he would have liked. He did, however, petition the King to commute the death sentence. The appeal was refused; Pitt and King George II were political opponents, with Pitt having pressed for George to relinquish his hereditary position of Elector of Hanover as being a conflict of interest with the government's policies in Europe.[12]

The severity of the penalty, combined with suspicion that the Admiralty sought to protect themselves from public anger over the defeat by throwing all the blame on the admiral, led to a reaction in favour of Byng in both the Navy and the country, which had previously demanded retribution.[7] Pitt, then Leader of the House of Commons, told the King: "the House of Commons, Sir, is inclined to mercy", to which George responded: "You have taught me to look for the sense of my people elsewhere than in the House of Commons."[9]

The King did not exercise his prerogative to grant clemency. Following the court martial and pronouncement of sentence, Admiral Byng had been detained aboard HMS Monarch in the Solent and, on 14 March 1757, he was taken to the quarterdeck for execution in the presence of all hands and men from other ships of the fleet in boats surrounding Monarch. The admiral knelt on a cushion and signified his readiness by dropping his handkerchief, whereupon a platoon of Royal Marines shot John Byng dead.[9]

Legacy

Byng's execution was satirized by Voltaire in his novel Candide. In Portsmouth, Candide witnesses the execution of an officer by firing squad and is told that "in this country, it is good to kill an admiral from time to time, in order to encourage the others" (Dans ce pays-ci, il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres).

Byng was the last of his rank to be executed in this fashion and, 22 years after the event, the Articles of War were amended to allow "such other punishment as the nature and degree of the offence shall be found to deserve" as an alternative to capital punishment.[9] In 2007, some of Byng's descendants petitioned the government for a posthumous pardon. The Ministry of Defence refused.[13] Members of his family continue to seek a pardon, along with a group at Southill in Bedfordshire where the Byng family lived.[13][14]

Byng's execution has been called "the worst legalistic crime in the nation's annals".[9] Naval historian N. A. M. Rodger believes that it may have influenced the behaviour of later naval officers by helping inculcate:

"a culture of aggressive determination which set British officers apart from their foreign contemporaries, and which in time gave them a steadily mounting psychological ascendancy. More and more in the course of the century, and for long afterwards, British officers encountered opponents who expected to be attacked, and more than half expected to be beaten, so that [the latter] went into action with an invisible disadvantage which no amount of personal courage or numerical strength could entirely make up for."[15]

Such policy considerations were no comfort to the family of their victim. In the words of one historian of the Royal Navy, "far from encouraging anyone at all, this judicial murder had the opposite effect".[9] Admiral Byng's epitaph at the family vault in All Saints Church[16] in Southill, Bedfordshire expresses their view and the view of much of the country:[9]

To the perpetual Disgrace
of PUBLICK JUSTICE
The Honble. JOHN BYNG Esqr
Admiral of the Blue
Fell a MARTYR to
POLITICAL PERSECUTION
March 14th in the year 1757 when
BRAVERY and LOYALTY
were Insufficient Securities
For the
Life and Honour
of a
NAVAL OFFICER[17]

Honorific eponyms

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Baugh, Daniel A. "Byng, John (bap. 1704, d. 1757)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4263. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ↑ "Biography: John Byng". National Museum of the Royal Navy. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  3. ↑ Hattendorf, John B. "Byng, George, first Viscount Torrington (1663–1733)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4262. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. 1 2 3 Godfrey, Michael (1974). "Byng, John". In Halpenny, Francess G. Dictionary of Canadian Biography. III (1741–1770) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  5. ↑ Rayment, Leigh. "Rochester (Kent)". House of Commons. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
  6. ↑ Wrotham Park History
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Hannay, David (1911). "Byng, John". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  8. ↑ Rodger, N. A. M. (1986). "Discipline". The wooden world: an anatomy of the Georgian navy. London: Collins. pp. 247–48. ISBN 0-00-216548-1.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Tute, Warren (1983). The True Glory, The Story of the Royal Navy over a thousand years. London: Macdonald & Co. pp. 81–83. ISBN 0-356-10403-6.
  10. ↑ William Laird Clowes, assisted by Sir Clements Markham, Captain A.T. Mahan, H.W. Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, E. Fraser etc. (1898). The Royal Navy : a history from the earliest times to the present III. p. 278. OCLC 645627800.
  11. ↑ Laughton, John Knox (1887). Studies in Naval History. London: Longman Green. p. 262. OCLC 669137632.
  12. 1 2 Ware, Chris (2009). Admiral Byng: His Rise and Execution. Barnsley, England: Pen and Sword Maritime. pp. 151–153. ISBN 1-84415-781-4.
  13. 1 2 Bates, Stephen; Norton-Taylor, Richard (15 March 2007). "No pardon for Admiral Byng. The MoD don't want to encourage any others". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 March 2007. Mrs Saunders-Davies said: "Admiral Byng did not deserve to be shot. He may not have been a brilliant sailor but he had an unblemished career and he had never lost a ship or drowned a sailor. The Byngs won't take the refusal of a pardon lying down. We're going to take this further."
  14. ↑ Copping, Jason (23 June 2013). "Family hope pardon for shamed Admiral Byng will finally arrive". The Daily Telegraph.
  15. ↑ Rodger, N.A.M. (2004). The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, Volume 2, 1649-1815. London: Allen Lane. p. 272. ISBN 0-7139-9411-8.
  16. ↑ "Admiral Byng". Bedford Borough Council. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  17. ↑ "Memorial: M4085". Maritime Memorials. National Maritime Museum. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  18. ↑ "Byng". Retrieved 5 June 2015.

Further reading

The facts of Byng's life are fairly set out in John Charnock's Biographia navalis; or, Impartial memoirs of the lives and characters of officers of the navy of Great Britain, from the year 1660 to the present time; drawn from the most authentic sources, and disposed in a chronological arrangement, vol. iv. pp. 145 to 179. Contemporary pamphlets and publications about his case are:

  • A Candid Examination of the Resolutions and Sentence of the Court-Martial on the Trial of Admiral Byng … In a letter to the gentlemen of the Navy. By an Old Sea Officer. London, J. Cooke, 1757.
  • A Collection of several Pamphlets, very little known, some suppressed letters, and sundry detached pieces … relative to the case of Admiral Byng. London, T. Lacy, 1756.
  • A Dialogue between the Ghost of A…..l B…. [i.e. Admiral John Byng], and the Substance of a G….l [i.e. Lord George Sackville]: shewing the difference between a chop and a pop. [A satire in verse on Sackville’s conduct at Minden.] London, Smith, 1759?].
  • A Full and Particular Account of a most dreadful … apparition [i.e. Admiral Byng’s Ghost] which appeared to a certain Great Man [i.e. T. P. Holles, Duke of Newcastle], etc. [London? 1757?].
  • A Further Address to the Publick. Containing genuine copies of all the letters which passed between A-l B-g [i.e. the Honourable John Byng] and the S-ry of the A-ty [i.e. the Secretary of the Admiralty, John Cleveland]; from the time of his suspension, to the twenty-fifth of October last. With proper remarks and reflections on the unprecedented treatment he has met with since his confinement. London, J. Lacy, 1757.
  • A Key to the Trial of Admiral Byng: or, a Brief state of facts relating to the action in the Mediterranean on the 20th of May, 1756, etc.. London, [1756.]
  • A Late Epistle to Mr C---------d [i.e. John Cleveland]. [Signed: B-g]. A lampoon in verse on Admiral Byng. With an engraving.] [London?, 1756.]
  • A Letter to a Gentleman in the Country, from his friend in London: giving an authentick and circumstantial account of the confinement, behaviour, and death of Admiral Byng, as attested by the gentlemen who were present. London, J. Lacy, 1757.
  • A letter to a member of Parliament in the country, from his friend in London, relative to the case of Admiral Byng: with some original papers and letters which passed during the expedition … London, J. Cooke, 1756.
  • A Letter to Admiral Smith, President of the Court Martial, for the tryal of the hon. J. Byng, Esq.; occasioned by a late performance [entitled, British Policy and British Bravery, a tragedy]. London, 1757.
  • A letter to Lord Robert Bertie, relating to his conduct in the Mediterranean, and his defence of Admiral Byng … London, R. Griffiths, 1757.
  • A Letter to Lord Robert Bertie, relating to his conduct in the Mediterranean, and his defence of Admiral Byng. The second edition, to which is added, a Postscript, to the publick, relating to the execution of the Admiral. London, R. Griffiths, 1757.
  • A Letter to the Right Honourable Lord A----. London, Printed for William Bizet …, 1757.
  • A Letter to the Right Honourable the L---ds of the A------y [i.e. the Lords of the Admiralty]. [By the Hon. Sarah Osborn, petitioning for their intercession with the King in behalf of Admiral John Byng.] [London, 1757.]
  • A Letter to the Rt. Hon. William Pitt; being an impartial vindication of the conduct of the Ministry, … in answer to the aspersions cast upon them by Admiral Byng and his advocates. London, Printed for Philip Hodges …, 1756.
  • A Modest Apology for the Conduct of a certain Admiral [i.e. the Hon. John Byng] in the Mediterranean, etc.. [Based on the “Serious Apology.”] London, M. Cooper; B. Dodd, 1756.
  • A Narrative of the Proceedings of Admiral B---g [i.e. the Hon. John Byng] and of his Conduct off Mahon on the 20 May. By an officer of the squadron. London, Owen, [1756.]
  • A parallel (in the manner of Plutarch) between the case of the late honourable Admiral John Byng, and that of the right honourable Lord George Sackville by a Captain of a man of war. London, Printed for R. Stevens …, 1759.
  • A Ray of Truth darting thro’ the thick clouds of falshood: or, the Lion, the foxes, the monkey, and the gamecock. A fable, to which is added, a hymn to Jupiter. [A pamphlet in favour of Admiral John Byng.] Printed & sold at all the Booksellers, London, [1756.]
  • A Real Defence of A-l B-’s [i.e. Admiral Byng’s] Conduct … By a Lover of Truth, and a Friend to Society. [A satire.] London, 1756.
  • A Rueful Story, or Britain in tears, being the conduct of Admiral B-g [i.e. the Hon. John Byng], in the late engagement off Mahone with a French fleet the 20. of May 1756. Printed by Boatswain Hawl-up: London, [1756.]
  • A Serious Apology and Modest Remarks on the Conduct of a Certain Admiral [i.e. Admiral Byng] in the Mediterranean, etc.. [With woodcuts.] London, T. Bailey, 1756.
  • Admiral B----g [i.e. the Hon. John Byng] in Horrors at the Appearance of the Unhappy Souls, who was killed in the engagement crying for revenge. [In verse. With a woodcut.] [London?, 1756.]
  • Admiral B—g’s [i.e. the Hon. John Byng’s] Answer to the Friendly Advice, or, the Fox out of the pit and the geese in. [London?, 1756.]
  • Admiral Byng and the loss of Minorca, by Brian Tunstall. London, Philip Allan & co. ltd. London, 1928.
  • Admiral Byng’s Complaint. [A ballad, beginning: “Come all you true Britons and listen to me.”] [London, 1756?]
  • Admiral Byng’s Defence, as presented by him, and read in the Court January 18, 1757 … containing a very particular account of the action on the 20th of May, 1756, off Cape Mola, etc.. [With an appendix of letters.] London, J. Lacy, 1757.
  • Admiral Byng’s Defence, as presented by him … in the Court January 18, 1757, etc. Dublin, J. Hoey, etc., 1757.
  • Admiral Forbes’s Reasons for not signing Admiral Byng’s Dead Warrant. London, 1757.
  • An account of the expedition of the British fleet to Sicily, in the years 1718, 1719 and 1720, under the Command of Sir George Byng (Collected from the Admiral's manuscripts and other original papers). London : J. and R. Tonson, 1739.
  • An Address to the Public, in answer to two pamphlets, intitled, An Appeal to the People of England, and A Letter to a Member of Parliament, relative to the case of A-l B-g [Admiral Byng] … By an Ante Italianite. London, A. Type, 1756.
  • An Appeal to the People: containing, the genuine and entire letter of Admiral Byng to the Secr. of the Ad-y … Part the first. (Part the second. On the different deserts and fate of Admiral Byng and his enemies, etc.). London, J. Morgan, 1756, 1757.
  • An appeal to the people: part the second. On the different deserts and fate of Admiral Byng and his enemies: the changes in the last administration: the year of liberty or thraldom …, London, J. Morgan, 1757.
  • An Appeal to the People: containing, the genuine and entire letter of Admiral Byng to the Secr. of the Ad-y: observations on those parts of it which were omitted by the writers of the Gazette: and what might be the reasons for such omissions … To this edition are added, some original papers and letters, etc. Dublin, L. Flin, 1756.
  • An Exact Copy of a Remarkable Letter from Admiral Byng to the Right Hon. W- P-, Esq; dated March 12, 1757, two days before his execution. London, J. Reason, 1757.
  • At 12 Mr. Byng was shot. [by Dudley Pope, with plates, including portraits.] London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, [1962.]
  • At twelve Mr. Byng was shot. Philadelphia, Lippincott [1962].
  • Boh Peep-Peep Boh, or A-l Bing’s apology to the Fribbles. A new ballad. [London, 1756?]
  • Bungiana, or an Assemblage of What-d’ye-call-em’s, etc.. London printed; re-printed and sold by the Booksellers: Dublin, 1756.
  • Bungiana, or an Assemblage of What-d’ye-call-em’s, in prose and verse, that have … appeared relative to the conduct of a certain naval commander [i.e. Admiral Byng], now first collected in order to perpetuate the memory of his wonderful atchievements. London, J. Doughty, 1756.
  • Byng return’d; or, the Council of expedients. [A satirical print, with verses.] [London?, 1756?].
  • Charles premier, roi d’Angleterre, condamné à mort par la nation Angloise. Et Bing, amiral anglois, fusillé par ordre de la même nation. Entretiens de leurs ombres aux Champs Élisées. Amsterdam, 1757.
  • Essential Queries relating to the Condemnation and Execution of Admiral Byng. [London? 1757.]
  • Histoire de l'expedition de l'Almiral Byng dans la Sicile, en 1718, 1719 et 1720, trad. del'angl. par M. Paris, Ballard, fils, 1744.
  • If Justice is begun? Let it continue. [Being an attack upon the Newcastle Administration, after the execution of Admiral Byng.] [London? 1757?].
  • Impartial Reflections on the Case of Mr. Byng, as stated in an Appeal to the People, etc. and a Letter to a Member of Parliament, etc. London, S. Hooper, 1756.
  • Letter to the Lords of the Admiralty [from the Hon. Sarah Osborn? imploring their intercession with the King for mercy to her brother, Admiral Byng, under sentence of death for breach of the Twelfth Article of War]. [London, 1757.]
  • Mémoire pour les ministres d'Angleterre, contre l'amiral Byng et contre l'auteur du ″Peuple instruit″. Ouvrage traduit de l'anglois. [by Edme-Jacques Genet.] 1757.
  • More Birds for the Tower, or, who’ll confess first. [A ballad, on the conduct of the Duke of Newcastle in relation to Admiral J. Byng.] [London? 1756?].
  • Noticia verdadeira da grande batalha naval que no canal de Malta houve entre hum navio inglez, e outro francez … e se dá noticia da morte de grande almirante Jorze Bing [i.e. John Byng], etc. Lisboa, 1757.
  • Observations on the Twelfth Article of War: wherein the nature of negligence, cowardice, and disaffection, is discussed … and the difference between error of judgment and negligence clearly stated … and exemplified in the case of the late Admiral Byng … In a letter to the President of the late Court Martial. By a Plain Man (i.e. David Mallet). London, W. Owen, 1757.
  • Oh! Tempora. Oh! Mores … Dedicated to the Captains Kirby, Constable, Wade, &c. in the regions below. [A lampoon in verse on Admiral Byng. With an engraving.] [London,] 1756.
  • Papers relating to the loss of Minorca in 1756 / Edited by Captain H. W. Richmond.[London], Navy Records Society, 1913.
  • Past twelve o’clock, or Byng’s ghost, an ode, inscribed to the Triumvirate; more particularly his Grace of N******** [Newcastle] … The second edition. London, J. Scott, 1757.
  • Queries addressed to Capt. C-ll [Cornwall] late of His M.'s ship Revenge. [In reference to his conduct in the action off Cape Mola, and to his evidence before the court martial for the trial of Admiral Byng.] [London, 1757.]
  • Some Friendly and Seasonable Advice to Mr. Admiral Byng. [On his approaching trial by court-martial.] [London, 1756.]
  • Some Further Particulars in relation to the Case of Admiral Byng. From original papers, &c. … By a Gentleman of Oxford. London, J. Lacy, 1756.
  • Some queries on the minutes of the council of war held at Gibraltar … May 4 [1756.]; from which good reason may be drawn, for a noble colonel's [Lord Robert Bertie] having taken so large a part in the defence of Admiral B[yn]g. Edition Second edition. London, 1757.
  • Some reasons for believing sundry Letters and Papers ascribed to Admiral Byng, not only spurious, but also an insidious attempt to prejudice the Admiral’s character. By a By-stander (C- W-e). London, [1756.]
  • Testament politique de l’amiral Byng, traduit de l’anglois. Portsmouth [Paris?] 1759.
  • Testamento politico del almirante Bing: en el que se manifiestan las maxîmas del partido realista para sojuzgar al pueblo inglés, y quitarle la libertad que se ha acquirido; y asi mismo la senda que éste debe seguir para conservarla. Tr. del francés por Don Antonio Rato … Valencia, Por. J. y T. de Orga, 1780.
  • The Block and Yard Arm. A new ballad, on the loss of Minorca and the danger of our American rights and possessions. [Against T. P. Holles, Duke of Newcastle and Admiral J. Byng.] [London, 1756.]
  • The Byng papers selected from the letters and papers of admiral Sir George Byng, 1st viscount Torrington, and of his son admiral the Hon. John Byng, and edited by Brian Tunstall. Vol. I -III). [London] the Mary Records Society, 1930-1932. 3 vol.
  • The Case of the Hon. Admiral Byng, ingenuously represented … Likewise his letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty … also two letters from M. Voltaire & the Marshal Duke de Richlieu to Mr. Byng. With an account of his execution … Also an elegy on his death, etc. London, H. Owen, 1757.
  • The Chronicle of B----g [i.e. Hon. J. Byng], the son of the great B---g [Byng] that lived in the reign of Queen Felicia [i.e. Queen Anne]. Containing an account of his mighty transactions against Gallisoniere, his flight and happy arrival at G-r, [Gibraltar] and from thence to Sp-th-d. [Spithead]. By Israel Ben Ader of the tribe of Levi. The second edition. London, 1756.
  • The Counterpoise: or, B---g [Byng] and the M-----y [Ministry] fairly stated. By a By-stander, etc. Dublin, J. Murphy, 1756.
  • The Hon. Mrs. Osborn's Letter to the Lords of the Admiralty [dated, February 17, 1757; petitioning for their intercession with the King in behalf of Admiral J. Byng]. [London, 1757.]
  • The martyrdom of Admiral Byng. Glasgow, William Maclellan, 1961.
  • The New Art of War at Sea, now first practis’d by the English ships, under the command of the prudent Admiral Bung. [An engraving representing the English and French fleets, being a satire against Admiral Byng.] [London, 1756.]
  • The Original Paper delivered by Admiral Byng to the Marshal just before his execution, etc. [London? 1757.]
  • The Portsmouth Grand Humbug: or, a Merry dialogue between a Boatwain and his mate on board the Monarch, relating to Admiral Byng, etc. [London? 1757.]
  • The Proceedings of the … Lords … [1, 2 March 1757] upon the Bill, intituled, An Act to relieve from the obligation of the Oath of Secrecy, the Members of the Court-Martial appointed for the tryal of Admiral J. Byng … Together with the examinations of the several members of the said Court-Martial; taken … at their Lordships’ Bar. London, T. Baskett, 1757.
  • The Proceedings of the … Lords … upon the Bill intituled, An Act to release from the obligation of the oath of secrecy, the members of the court-martial appointed for the tryal of Admiral John Byng … Together with the examinations of the several members of the said court-martial … To which is prefixed, an abstract of the proceedings of the Hon. House of Commons, upon the said Bill, etc. Dublin, G. Faulkner, etc., 1757.
  • The Resignation: or, the Fox out of the pit, and the geese in, with B----G [i.e. the Hon. John Byng] at the bottom. London, 1756.
  • The Sham Fight; or Political Humbug. A state farce in two acts [and in prose] as it was acted by some persons of distinction in the M[e]d[iterranea]n and elsewhere. London, printed and sold [by J. Ryall], 1756.
  • The Shooting of Admiral Byng, on board the Monarque, March 14, 1757. [An engraved plate, with descriptive letterpress and “a copy of a paper delivered by the Hon. Admiral Byng, to W. Brough, Esq., Marshal … before his death,”] [London? 1757.]
  • The Sorrowful Lamentation and Last Farewell to the World of Admiral Byng. [A ballad.] [London, 1757.]
  • The Speech of the Honble Admiral Byng, intended to have been spoken on board the Monarque at the time of his execution, etc. London, T. Lindsey, [1757.]
  • The State of Minorca, and its Lost Condition when A-----l B—g [i.e. the Hon. John Byng] appeared off that island. London, S. Baker & G. Woodfall, [1757.]
  • The Trial of the honorable admiral Byng, at a court-martial held on board His Majesty's ship the St. George, in Portsmouth harbour, Tuesday, Dec. 28, 1756, for an enquiry into his conduct, while he commanded in the Mediterranean. Together with his defense… London, printed for and sold by J. Lacy, 1757.
  • The Trial of the Honourable John Byng, at a Court Martial, as taken by Mr. Charles Fearne … To which are added, a copy of their Lordships memorial to the King, in relation to the sentence passed upon Admiral Byng [and other documents], etc. Dublin, J. Hoey, etc., 1757.
  • The Trial of Vice-Admiral Byng … Together with the Admirals defence, taken down in short-hand. [An abridgment.] London, J. Reason, 1757.
  • To the People of England. [An address, signed Triton, in behalf of Admiral J. Byng.] [London, 1757.]
  • To the worthy Merchants and Citizens of London. [Urging the execution of sentence on Admiral Byng.] [London, 1757.]
  • Zuverlässige Lebens-Geschichte des grosbritannischen Admirals … Johan Byng, etc. Frankfurt & Leipzig, 1757.

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John Byng
Political offices
Preceded by
Thomas Smith		 Commodore Governor of Newfoundland
1742–1742 		Succeeded by
Thomas Smith
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Chaloner Ogle
David Polhill		 Member of Parliament for Rochester
1751–1757
With: David Polhill 1751–1754
Nicholas Haddock 1754–1757		 Succeeded by
Nicholas Haddock
Isaac Townsend
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