John Benbow (1653 - 1702)

Born 10 Mar 1653 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 4 Nov 1702 at age 49 in Port Royal, Kingston, Jamaica

Biography

John Benbow is Notable.

John Benbow was born in Shropshire, England.

Chalmers General Biographical Dictionary: Benbow (John), a brave English admiral, descended of an ancient Shropshire family, reduced in fortune by its adherence to Charles I, was born about the year 1659 at Coton Hill, Shrewsbury, an ancient house now occupied by Mr Bishop a maltster of that place. His father, colonel John Benbow, dying when he was very young, this son had no other provision than being bred to the sea, a profession which he eagerly adopted, and in which he was so successful, that before he was thirty he became master, and partly owner, of a ship called the Benbow frigate, employed in the Mediterranean trade, in which he would have probably acquired a good estate, if an accident had not brought him to serve in the British navy. In the year 1686, he was attacked in his passage to Cadiz by a Sallee rover ,against which he defended himself, though very unequal in the number of men ,with the outmost bravery, although the Moors boarded him, they were quickly beat out of the ship again with the loss of thirteen men, whose heads captain Benbow ordered to be cut off, and thrown into a tub of pork pickle. When he arrived at Cadiz, he went ashore, and ordered a negro servant to follow him, with the Moors' heads in his sack The captain answered, "Salt provisions for his own use". The officers insisted upon seeing them, which Captain Benbow refused. The officers told him that the magistrates were sitting, and he might appeal to them, but that it was not in their power to act otherwise. The captain consented to the proposal, and the magistrates treated him with great civility, told him they were sorry to make a point of such a trifle, but that since he had refused to shew the contents of his sack to their officers, the nature of their employment obliged them to demand a sight of them; and that as they doubted not they were salt provisions. ^[1]

• Wiki source

Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-22 Benbow John (1653-1702) (DNBoo) By John Knox Loughton

Vice Admiral was the son of William Benbow, a tanner of Shrewbury, and nephew of that Captain John Benbow who having served with some distinction in the parliamentary army, went over to the royalists after the death of the king, and being taken prisoner at the battle of Worcester was tried by court-marshal and shot, 16 Oct 1651.

Of Benbow's early youth there are no authentic accounts, but the fact of his father having been a tanner gives credit to the local tradition that he was apprenticed to a butcher, from whose shop he ran away to sea. On 30 Apr 1678, he entered as a masters mate on board the Rupert, fitting out at Portsmouth under the command of Captain Herbert, afterwards the Earl of Torrington. In the Rupert he went out to the Mediterranean, was engaged in some smart actions with Algerine corsairs', and so far won on the god will of Captain Herbert,the second in command of the squadron that he obtained from him his promotion as master of the Nonsuch 15 June 1679. The Nonsuch continued at Tangier and on the African coast,under the successively command of Rooke,Shovell and Wheeler ,then young captains. Wheeler died early,but Herbert,Rooke and Shovell were afterwards able to testify to their high opinion of Benbow,and to push his fortune .On 8 April 1681 the Nonsuch captured an Algerine cruiser which had been engaged by and had been beaten off the Adventure,commanded by Captain Booth; and it would seem that the Nonsuch's men indulged in rude witticisms at the expense of the Adventure's. Benbow repeated some of these reflecting on Captain Booth's conduct,which coming to Booth's knowledge, he brought Benbow to a court-martial, and the fault being proved with saving clause that he only repeated those words after another; Benbow was sentenced to forfeit three months pay,to be disposed of for the use of the wounded men on board the Adventurer and likewise to ask Captain Booth's pardon on board his majesty's ship Bristol,declaring that he had no malicious intent in speaking those words,all the commanders being present, and a boat's crew of each ship's company (Minutes of the court-martial,20 April 1681. The three months pay,amounted to 12/ 16s, appears duly checked against his name In the Nonsuch"s pay-book.

In the following August Captain Wheeler was superceded by Captain Wrenn and on the 9 November 1681 the Nonsuch was paid off. Benbow for a time disappears ;it is likely that he returned to the merchant service,and that in 1686 he owned and commanded a ship named the Benbow frigate,in the Levant trade,and that he made a stout and successful defence against a Sallee rover. The story that he cut off and salted down the heads of thirteen Moors who were slain on the Benbow's deck,that he carried these trophies into Cadiz ,and displayed them to the magistrates in order to claim head-money,is not in self improbable,though told with much grotesque exaggeration (Cambwell Lives' of the Admirals,iii.335) ,and is to some extent corroborated by the existence of a Moorish skull-cap,made of finely plaited cane mounted in silver,and bearing the inscription, "The first adventure of Captain John Benbow,and gift to Richard Ridley,1687: Ridley was the husband of one of Benbow's sisters,and sixty years ago the skull-cap was still in the possession of his descendants (Owen and Blakeway)

Benbow did not not re-enter the navy till after the revolution,and his first recorded commission was as third lieutenant of the Elizabeth,of 70 guns then commanded by Captain (afterwards Sir David) Mitchell. On 26 Oct was transferred to the Bonaventure,50 guns;and again on 12 November to the Britannia. We may assume that he owed this rapid promotion to his former capital Admiral Herbert,who's star at this time in.the ascendant;and it is almost allowable to conjecture that during the critical months of the revolution,he had been in Herbert's service ,and had piloted the fleet which landed William 111 in Torbay.

From the Britannia Benbow was appointed master attendant of Chatham dockyard, early in March 1689-90 he was removed to Deptford in the same capacity,and he continued in office for the next six years,although frequently relieved from its duties and employed on particular service.In the summer of 1690 he was master of the Sovereign,bearing the flag of Lord Torrington and acted as master of the fleet before and during the unfortunate battle of Beachy Head. In the court-martial held on 10 Dec Benbow's evidence told strongly in favour of the admiral,and no doubt largely to his acquittal,though it was not sufficient to convince the king ,or to turn the verdict of posterity in his favour ,Benbow was still in the Sovereign during the summer of 1692,and in the summer of 1692 was again master of the fleet under Admiral Russell, on board the Britannia, and had his share of glories of Barfleur and La Hogue .It had been already ordered that while he was serving afloat his pay as master was to be made up to that of master attendant at Deptford . An order was now issued for him to be paid as master attendant in addition to his pay as master presumably in direct acknowledgement of special services in the conduct of the fleet Admiralty Minutes,14 Aug 1691,12 Feb1692-2, 16 Oct 1692)

In Sept 1693 Benbow was again appointed away from his dockyard to command a flotilla of bomb-vessels and fireships ordered to attack St Malo. The bombardment began on the evening of 16 Nov, and continued,through with frequent intermissions,till the evening of the 19th,when a large fireship was sent in. It was intended to lay this alongside the town walls;but she took the ground at some distance,where she was set on fire .Even so the damage done was considerable Benbow himself was much dissatisfied with the result,and brought the commander of one of the bomb vessels to a court-martial for disobedience in not going closer:he was not however,able to procure a conviction . In September 1694 he was again appointed to a similar flotilla against Dunkirk . The bomb-vessels were to be supported by a number of so-called machines,invented by gone Meester,an engineer. They would seem to have been explosive fireships ,similar to,but smaller than,the one tried at St.Malo in the summer. The attacking squadron was covered by the fleet from the Downs, commanded by Sir Clowdisley Shovell, and the attempt was made on 12 and 13 Sept .No result however was obtained. The French had blocked the entrance to the port. and the weather having set in stormy, the fleet and the flotilla returned to the Downs. In the following summer it was resolved to make a further attempt with these machines .Benbow was again appointed to the command of the bomb-vessels, which. supported by the English and Dutch fleet under Admirals Lord Berkeley and Van Almonde, appeared off St Malo on 4 July and immediately opened fire. They kept this up till dark, renewed it the next morning and continued it till evening, when they drew off without any decisive results several houses having been knocked down or set on fire, and on the side of the assailants, some of the bomb-vessels were shattered or sunk. In a council of war held the next day it was resolved that as much had been done as could be hoped for. Benbow , with the bomb-vessels and some frigates, was sent along. the coast to attack Granville, which he shelled some hours, alarming but not seriously injuring, the inhabitants (PRO Home Office Admiralty Records). In the further attacks on the French coast during that summer Benbow had no share. He gave up his command on the return of the fleet to the Downs. "Benbow is quitting his ship " wrote Lord Berkeley on 23 July. 'I cannot imagine the reason. He pretends sickness ,but I think it is only feigned ' And on the 28th he again. wrote 'As to Captain Benbow, 'I know of no difference between him and me nor have we had any. He has no small obligation to me ,but being called in some foolish papers. "The Famous Captain Benbow I suppose has put him a little out of himself, and has made him play the fool, as I guess, in some of his letters. I will nor farther now particularize this business, but time will show I have not been in the wrong, unless being to kind to an ungrateful man'. Notwithstanding this, however, Benbow's conduct was warmly approved of; the admiralty ordered him 'to be paid as rear-admiral during the time he has been employed this summer on the coast of France......as a reward for his good service (Minutes,12 Sept,1965) and early in the following spring gave him the rank as well'. In May.1696 he was appointed commander in chief of the squadron before Dunkirk, and was ordered to stretch as far to the northward as thought 'convenient for the intercepting of Bart's squadron and protecting the English and Dutch trades expected home northabout The orders to look out for Bart were repeated more than once (Minutes,15 May, 29 July) but Benbow's efforts were unavailing. In the middle of September he did manage to get a distant view of the object but Bart easily escaped into Dunkirk. on learning this he returned to the Downs, and in December was appointed to command the squadron in the Soundings for the protection of the home-ward bound trade . He continued on this service till the peace, when ,with very short rest, he was (9 March 1697-8) appointed commander in chief of the king's ships in the West Indies, with special orders to hunt down the pirates. His sailing was delayed till November of the next year 1698-9 Thence he proceeded towards the Spanish Main ,and by a threat of blockading Cartagena, induced the governor to restore two English merchant ships which he had detained to form part of a projected expedition against the Scotch colony at Darien, Benbow's action virtually put an end to this, and preserved the colonists for the time. This result would seem to have been displeasing to the home government,and in June stringent orders were sent out to Benbow,and the governors in the West Indies 'not to assist the Scotch colonies in Darien' The rest of the year was occupied in ineffectual efforts to persuade or constrain the Spanish at Porto Bello,or St Domingo,to restore some ships which had been seized for illicit trading and in a vain attempt to induce the Danish governor of St Thomas's to give up some pirates who had sheltered under the Danish flag .He afterwards ranged along the coast of North America as far as Newfoundland,scaring the pirates away for a time,but failing to capture any ,and towards the summer of 1700 he returned to England.He was almost immediately appointed to be command of the Downs,and continued there through the spring and summer of 1701,when he served for some month as vice-admiral of the blue in.the grand fleet of Sir George Rooke,and was then again sent to the West Indies as commander in chief.al He arrived at Barbados on 3 Nov,and proceeded by.easy stages to Jamaica,where a French fleet was expected. For several months Benbow remained at Jamaica,and on 8 May was joined by Rear-admiral Whetstone Thus strengthened,he shortly afterwards proceeded for a cruise on the coast of Hispaniola. In August he received news of the French squadron having gone to Cartagena and Porto Bello. On 19 Aug he sighted it in the neighbourhood of Santa Maria.it consisted of four ships of from 60 to 70 guns one of 30 ,a transport and four small frigates ,all under the command of M.du Casse.The English force consisted of seven ships of from 50 to 70 guns,but was much scattered,and the commanders showed no great alacrity in closing. It was late in the afternoon before the ships were in any collective order,and a partial engagement,lasting about a couple of hours,was put an end to by nightfall.The admiral in the Breda of 70 guns,closely by Captain Walton in the Ruby of 50 guns,kept company with the French all night,and was well up with them at daybreak;but the other ships did not close during the whole day. The 21st and three following days brought ,no more resolution to the different captains of the squadron.Walton only.and Vincent of the Falmouth,supported the admiral on his continued efforts to bring Du Casse to action,and for some time these three sustained the fire of the whole French squadron,while the other ships held aloof

The Ruby was disabled on the 23rd and ordered to make the best of her way to Port Royal. Early on the morning on the 24th Benbow's right leg was shattered by a chain shot. He was carried below, but as soon as the wound was dressed he had himself taken up to the quarter deck. Captain Kirkby of the Defiance came on board and urged him to give up the chase.All the other captains being summoned on board concurred in this;they even put their opinion on paper;and the admiral was thus compelled to return to Jamaica. There he ordered a court-martial to be assembled. Captain Kirby of the and Captain Wade of the Greenwich were condemned to be shot ,and Captain Constable of the Winsor to be cashiered Captain Hudson of the Pendennis died before the trial; Captain Vincent of the Windsor to be cashiered,Captain Fogg of it's flagship ,who had signed up the protest were suspended during the Queen's pleasure.Kirby and Wade were shot on board the Bristol in Plymouth Sound 16 April 1703. The admiral had succumbed his wound some months earlier.He died at Port Royal on.4 Nov 1702 and was but in the chancel of St Andrews Church Kingston,where a slab of blue slate still marks his grave

The exact narration of Benbow's history may cause some wonder as to his high reputation.For in no instance where he commanded was any success over the enemy obtained,and his engagement with Du Casse was the most disgraceful event in our naval records. He fought indeed bravely: but in commander in chief mere bravery goes for very little,and it was pointed out at the time that it was the Admiral's plain duty to have at once superceded and confined the false hearted officers.

Benbow appears to have married early :his wife's name was Martha, and he had several children : three sons and two daughters are named (Owen and Blake way, ii. 394), but the dates (1679,1680, 1681) assigned to the birth of the three eldest correspond with the period of Benbow's service in the Mediterranean on board the Rupert and Nonsuch, and cannot be correct unless we suppose that his wife accompanied him on board the ship, which is barely possible. The sons all died young and unmarried. Martha the eldest daughter was twice married and died in 1719. The youngest catharine, said to have been married in 1709 Mr Paul Calton of Milton in Berkshire. Mention is also made of a sister Eleanor born 7 July 1646 who married Samuel Hind a grocer in Shrewsbury, and died 24 May 1724,and of another sister, Elizabeth who married Richard Ridley possibly a companion of Benbow in some early adventures.

John was born in 1653. He passed away in 1702.

Sources

1. ↑ Chalmers General Biographical Dictionary

• Find A Grave, database and images (accessed 26 February 2020), memorial page for Adm John Benbow (10 Mar 1653–4 Nov 1702), Find A Grave Memorial no. 113955986, citing Kingston Parish Church Cemetery, Kingston, Kingston, Jamaica ; Maintained by Carolyn Gray-Yeaw (contributor 47062093) .Find A Grave: Memorial #113955986

• Seafaring 1888-10-20: Vol 1 Iss 16 . Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 26 Oct 2023.

• Benbow Ships ..https://bravebenbow.com/?page_id=413

• Admiral Benbow Memorials ..https://bravebenbow.com/?page_id=342

Adm John Benbow

• Birth Date 10 March 1693

Birth Place Shropshire

• Death Date 4 Nov 1702

Death Place Kingston Jamaica

Cemetery St Andrews Kingston Jamaica

• Married Martha about 1674??