John Jennings (Royal Navy officer)

Sir John Jennings
Admiral John Jennings (Godfrey Kneller, 1708-1709)
Born	1664
Died	23 December 1743 Greenwich, London
Allegiance	Kingdom of Great Britain
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1687–1743
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	HMS St Paul HMS Experiment HMS Victory HMS Mary HMS Chichester HMS Plymouth HMS Kent HMS St George Greenwich Hospital
Battles/wars	War of Spanish Succession

Admiral Sir John Jennings (1664 – 23 December 1743) was a Royal Navy officer. He commanded HMS Kent at Cadiz and Vigo in 1702 during the War of the Spanish Succession. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief of the Jamaica Station, then Senior Naval Lord and finally Governor of Greenwich Hospital. He also served as a Member of Parliament.

Naval career

Born the son of Philip Jennings of Duddleston Hall, Jennings was descended from a Shropshire family which had suffered for its adherence to the Royalist cause during the English Civil War. He was appointed a lieutenant on HMS Pearl in 1687, and served with the same rank in HMS St David and HMS Swallow, before being promoted to the command of the St Paul, a fireship.^[1]

In 1690 he was made captain of the newly launched HMS Experiment, of 32 guns, and employed in cruising off the coast of Ireland, where he intercepted a number of small vessels which were being used as transports by James II's forces.^[2] In 1693, Jennings was nominated captain of the Victory, flagship of Sir John Ashby; later the same year he was transferred to the 62-gun HMS Mary, in which he went to the Mediterranean with Admiral Russell.^[2] In 1696, he was removed to the Chichester, of 80 guns; and, in the following year, was entrusted with the command of the Plymouth, with which he captured a St Malo privateer.^[1] Shortly afterwards, together with the frigate HMS Rye, he fell in with three French ships: one quickly surrendered, and Jennings, leaving the Rye to look after their prize, pursued the other two and succeeded in compelling one to strike her flag after a vigorous defence. Having conducted their prizes to port, the Rye and the Plymouth fell in with the Severn, a British man-of-war, and the three ships steered together for the coast of France, where they took five vessels laden with wine from Bordeaux, and a small ship of war.^[3]

On the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, Jennings commanded HMS Kent (of 70 guns) under Admiral Rooke at Cadiz and Vigo in 1702, where he played a part in the destruction of the Franco-Spanish fleet. He took part in the capture of Gibraltar, and was captain of the 96-gun HMS St George at the Battle of Málaga in 1704. He was knighted for his exploits by Queen Anne on 9 September 1704, and having been promoted to rear admiral in 1705, became Commander-in-Chief of the Jamaica Station in 1706.^[4] He was promoted to vice admiral in 1708 and admiral in 1709. His attack on Tenerife in 1706 was unsuccessful. He commanded the fleet off Lisbon from 1708 to 1710, and was later Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean.^[1]

Jennings entered Parliament in 1705 and was regarded as a useful member of the House of Commons, in which he represented Queenborough, Portsmouth and Rochester - all boroughs with strong naval connections where his selection as an MP might be taken as a mark of the esteem in which his service record was held, but equally as an indication of the influence he could potentially wield on their behalf as a senior serving officer and later as a naval administrator. He joined the Board of Admiralty under the Whig government in October 1714^[5] but stood down when the Government fell in April 1717.^[5] He returned to the Admiralty Board under the Second Stanhope–Sunderland ministry in March 1718^[5] and was advanced to Senior Naval Lord in September 1721.^[6] After acquiring Newsells Bury at Barkway in Hertfordshire for his retirement,^[2]^[7] he resigned from the Admiralty Board in June 1727 because his increasing deafness was preventing him from adequately fulfilling the duties. He was also appointed governor of Greenwich Hospital and Ranger of Greenwich Park from 1720, and presented the marble statue of George II by Rysbrack which stands in the Grand Square of the Hospital.^[1]

Jennings died at Greenwich on 23 December 1743 at the age of 79, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.^[8]

Family

Jennings married Alice Breton; they had one son, George.^[2]

References

1 2 3 4 "John Jennings". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
1 2 3 4 Laughton, John Knox (1892). "Jennings, John". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography. 29. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
↑ Campbell, p. 228
↑ Cundall, p. xx
1 2 3 "Sainty, JC, Lord High Admiral and Commissioners of the Admiralty 1660-1870, Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4: Admiralty Officials 1660-1870 (1975), pp. 18-31.". Retrieved 4 September 2009.
↑ Rodger, p. 51-52
↑ Prince, p. 101
↑ "Sir John Jennings". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 4 August 2017.

Sources

Campbell, John (1813). Naval history of Great Britain, including the history and lives of the British admirals. 4. Stockdale.
Cundall, Frank (1915). Historic Jamaica. West India Committee.
Laughton, John Knox (1892). "Jennings, John". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography. 29. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Prince, Hugh C. (2008). Parks in Hertfordshire Since 1500. University of Hertfordshire Press. ISBN 978-0954218997.
Rodger, N.A.M. (1979). The Admiralty. Offices of State. Lavenham: T. Dalton Ltd. ISBN 0900963948.

External links

Portrait of Sir John Jennings by Kneller, from the National Maritime Museum collection

Parliament of England
Preceded by Thomas King Robert Crawford	Member of Parliament for Queenborough 1705–1707 With: Thomas King	Succeeded by Parliament of Great Britain
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Parliament of England	Member of Parliament for Queenborough 1707–1710 With: Thomas King 1707–1708 Henry Withers 1708–1710	Succeeded by Thomas King James Herbert
Preceded by Admiral George Churchill Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Wager	Member of Parliament for Portsmouth 1710–1711 With: Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Wager	Succeeded by Admiral Sir James Wishart Sir William Gifford
Preceded by Admiral Sir John Leake William Cage	Member of Parliament for Rochester 1715–1734 With: Sir Thomas Palmer 1715–1724 Sir Thomas Colby 1724–1727 David Polhill 1727–1734	Succeeded by David Polhill Admiral Nicholas Haddock
Military offices
Preceded by William Kerr	Commander-in-Chief, Jamaica Station 1706	Succeeded by Charles Wager
Preceded by Sir George Byng	Senior Naval Lord 1721–1727	Succeeded by Sir John Norris
Preceded by Lord Aylmer	Governor, Greenwich Hospital 1720–1743	Succeeded by Sir John Balchen
Honorary titles
Preceded by Viscount Torrington	Rear-Admiral of Great Britain 1733–1743	Succeeded by Thomas Mathews

First Sea Lords of the Royal Navy
Senior Naval Lords (1689–1771)	Arthur Herbert Sir John Chicheley Edward Russell Henry Priestman Earl of Orford Sir George Rooke Sir John Leake Sir George Byng Sir John Leake Sir George Byng Matthew Aylmer Sir George Byng Sir John Jennings Sir John Norris Sir Charles Wager Lord Archibald Hamilton Lord Harry Powlett Lord Archibald Hamilton Lord Vere Beauclerk Lord Anson Sir William Rowley Edward Boscawen Sir William Rowley Edward Boscawen John Forbes Earl Howe Sir Charles Saunders Augustus Keppel Sir Peircy Brett Sir Francis Holburne
First Naval Lords (1771–1904)	Augustus Hervey Sir Hugh Palliser Robert Man George Darby Sir Robert Harland Sir Hugh Pigot John Leveson-Gower Lord Hood Sir Charles Middleton James Gambier Sir Thomas Troubridge James Gambier John Markham James Gambier Sir Richard Bickerton William Domett Sir Joseph Yorke Sir Graham Moore Sir William Johnstone Hope Sir George Cockburn Sir Thomas Hardy The Hon. George Dundas Charles Adam Sir George Cockburn Sir Charles Adam Sir George Cockburn Sir William Parker Sir Charles Adam Sir James Dundas The Hon. Maurice Berkeley Hyde Parker The Hon. Maurice Berkeley The Hon. Sir Richard Dundas William Martin The Hon. Sir Richard Dundas The Hon. Sir Frederick Grey Sir Alexander Milne Sir Sydney Dacres Sir Alexander Milne Sir Hastings Yelverton Sir George Wellesley Sir Astley Key Sir Arthur Hood Lord John Hay Sir Arthur Hood Sir Richard Hamilton Sir Anthony Hoskins Sir Frederick Richards Lord Walter Kerr
First Sea Lords (1904–present)	Sir John Fisher Sir Arthur Wilson Sir Francis Bridgeman Prince Louis of Battenberg The Lord Fisher Sir Henry Jackson Sir John Jellicoe Sir Rosslyn Wemyss The Earl Beatty Sir Charles Madden, Bt Sir Frederick Field The Lord Chatfield Sir Roger Backhouse Sir Dudley Pound The Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope Sir John Cunningham The Lord Fraser of North Cape Sir Rhoderick McGrigor The Earl Mountbatten of Burma Sir Charles Lambe Sir Caspar John Sir David Luce Sir Varyl Begg Sir Michael Le Fanu Sir Peter Hill-Norton Sir Michael Pollock Sir Edward Ashmore Sir Terence Lewin Sir Henry Leach Sir John Fieldhouse Sir William Staveley Sir Julian Oswald Sir Benjamin Bathurst Sir Jock Slater Sir Michael Boyce Sir Nigel Essenhigh Sir Alan West Sir Jonathon Band Sir Mark Stanhope Sir George Zambellas Sir Philip Jones

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