John Byng

Admiral of the Blue John Byng (baptised 29 October 1704 – 14 March 1757) was a Royal Navy officer and politician who was court-martialled and executed by firing squad. 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. He also served as Commodore-Governor of Newfoundland Colony in 1742, Commander-in-Chief, Leith, 1745 to 1746 and was a member of Parliament from 1751 until his death.

Byng failed to relieve a besieged British garrison during the Battle of Minorca at the beginning of the Seven Years' War. He had sailed for Minorca at the head of a hastily assembled fleet of vessels, some of which were in poor condition. In the ensuing battle with a French Royal Navy squadron of ships off the Minorcan coast, he was defeated and the fleet under his command considerably damaged. He then elected to withdraw to Gibraltar to repair his ships. Upon return to Britain, Byng was court-martialled and found guilty of breaching the 12th Article of War in failing to "do his utmost" to prevent Minorca from falling to the French. He was sentenced to death and, after pleas for clemency were denied, was shot dead by a firing squad on 14 March 1757.

John Byng was born at Southill Park in the parish of Southhill in Bedfordshire, England, the fourth son of Rear-Admiral Sir George Byng. His father 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.

George Byng 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.

John Byng entered the Royal Navy in March 1718, aged 13, when his father was a well-established admiral at the peak of a uniformly successful career. Early in his career, Byng was assigned to a series of Mediterranean postings. In 1723, aged 19, he was promoted lieutenant and, at 23, rose to become captain of HMS Gibraltar. His Mediterranean service continued until 1739 without much action.

In 1742 he was appointed Commodore-Governor of the British colony of Newfoundland. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1745 and appointed Commander-in-Chief, Leith, a post he held until 1746. Byng, stationed off Scotland, thwarted the resupply of Bonnie Prince Charlie's forces during the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. The admiral also assisted the Duke of Cumberland in Britain's crackdown after the Battle of Culloden. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1747 and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet. He served as a Member of Parliament for Rochester from 1751 until his death.

Having purchased a large estate in Hertfordshire, in 1754 Byng commissioned the building within it of Wrotham Park, a Palladian mansion (sited within the present-day bounds of Potters Bar). It is doubtful that he ever lived there. Byng never married and the house was left to a brother's eldest son, a descendant of whom still owns it.

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, numerous British diplomats based in the Mediterranean raised the alarm that Minorca was threatened by a French naval attack from Toulon. Since 1748, British downsizing of the Royal Navy meant that only three ships-of-the-line were assigned to protect trading interests in the Mediterranean by 1755. The London Evening Post had reported as far back as April 1755 that Toulon was outfitting twelve brand new "men of war". Lord George Anson, head of the Admiralty, chose to focus instead on preventing a French invasion, keeping warships close to Britain.