HON

BYRON  . JOHN (1723–1786), British vice-admiral, second son of the 4th Lord Byron, and grandfather of the poet, was born on the 8th of November 1723 . While still very young, he accompanied Anson in his voyage of discovery round the world . During many successive years he saw a great deal of hard service, and so constantly had he to contend, on his various expeditions, with adverse gales and dangerous storms, that he was nicknamed by the sailors, " Foul-weather Jack." It is to this that Lord Byron alludes in his Epistle to Augusta: " A strange doom is thy father's son's, and past Recalling as it lies beyond redress, Reversed for him our grandsite's fate of yore, He had no rest at sea, nor I on shore." Among his other expeditions was that to Louisburg in 176o, where he was sent in command of a squadron to destroy the fortifications . And in 1764 in the " Dolphin " he went for a prolonged cruise in the South Seas . In 1768 he published a Narrative of some of his early adventures with Anson, which was to some extent utilized by his grandson in Don Juan . In 1769 he was appointed governor of Newfoundland . In 1775 he attained his flag rank, and in 1778 became a vice-admiral . In the same year he was despatched with a fleet to watch the movements of the Count d'Estaing, and in July 1779 fought an indecisive engagement with him off Grenada . He soon after returned to England, retiring into private life, and died on the loth of April 1786 .