Admiral Sir John Laforey, 1st Baronet (1729 – 14 June 1796) was a senior and controversial British naval officer of the 18th century whose extensive career was spent mainly on the North American and West Indian stations. During his career, Laforey was repeatedly involved in contentious naval politics, especially relating to the provision of
prize money
Prize money refers in particular to naval prize money, usually arising in naval warfare, but also in other circumstances. It was a monetary reward paid in accordance with the prize law of a belligerent state to the crew of a ship belonging to ...
and angered several senior officers through much publicised disputes. This resulted in his sidelining for much of his career, only making flag rank and finding success with the outbreak of the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...
in 1793.
Seven Years' War
Laforey was born to Lieutenant-Colonel John Laforey and his wife Mary Clayton in 1729, although the actual date is unknown. The Laforey family was descended from a prominent French
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
line which fled to England in the 1690s and became prominent military figures within their adopted country. Nothing is known of the younger John's childhood or education but in 1748 he became a lieutenant in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
. Seven years later, in the early stages of the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...
, Laforey was personally promoted by Commodore
Augustus Keppel to commander, taking over
HMS ''Ontario'' as his first commission.
Three years later, Laforey commanded
HMS ''Hunter'' at the
Siege of Louisbourg in French Canada under
Edward Boscawen
Admiral of the Blue Edward Boscawen, PC (19 August 171110 January 1761) was a British admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament for the borough of Truro, Cornwall, England. He is known principally for his various naval commands during ...
. on 25 July 1758, Laforey earned distinction in command of the small force of sailors and marines who entered the harbour and burnt the French
ship of the line ''Prudent'' and captured the
''Bienfaisant''. For this service, Laforey was rewarded by Boscawen with promotion to captain and command of
HMS ''Echo''. He continued in service under Boscawen and was present during the
capture of Quebec.
By 1762, Laforey had been transferred to the West Indies under
Admiral Rodney
Admiral George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, KB ( bap. 13 February 1718 – 24 May 1792), was a British naval officer. He is best known for his commands in the American War of Independence, particularly his victory over the French at t ...
and participated in his
capture of the French island of Martinique. After the peace in the same year, Laforey remained in the West Indies and married Eleanor Farley, daughter of major
Antigua landowner and politician Francis Farley. Admiral
Francis Laforey was their son. He would later inherit substantial estates from his father-in-law.
In 1770, Laforey returned to his naval career, briefly taking over the
frigate HMS ''Pallas''. For the next six years, Laforey remained in semi-retirement until the outbreak of the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
in 1776 recalled him to service.
American Revolutionary War
Laforey took command of the newly commissioned
HMS ''Ocean'' as his first captaincy in the war, and with her served for three years, fighting at the
First Battle of Ushant
The Battle of Ushant (also called the First Battle of Ushant) took place on 27 July 1778, and was fought during the American Revolutionary War between French and British fleets west of Ushant, an island at the mouth of the English Channel off ...
with the squadron of Admiral Keppel. The action was successful, but the aftermath spilled out into a bitter row coloured by party politics. Laforey, as a longtime supporter of Keppel, gave evidence for him at his court martial but Keppel left the Navy despite his acquittal and Laforey was dispatched to a temporary shore command at Antigua, commanding the
Leeward Islands Station
The Leeward Islands Station originally known as the Commander-in-Chief at Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands was a formation or command of the Kingdom of Great Britain and then the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed at English Harbour, Antigua, L ...
.
There he established numerous reforms in the dockyard at
English Harbour, improving cleaning and repair operations at the port. The commission was fraught with difficulty however as many captains and junior admirals refused to respond to Laforey's orders as he was of lower rank than they were. This substantially hindered operations on Antigua until Admiral Rodney promoted him to Commodore in 1780 to compensate.
Less than a year after his promotion however, Laforey and Rodney fell out over the purchase of stores from
St Eustatius
Sint Eustatius (, ), also known locally as Statia (), is an island in the Caribbean. It is a special municipality (officially "public body") of the Netherlands.
The island lies in the northern Leeward Islands portion of the West Indies, sout ...
and Laforey fell from favour. Although Rodney was replaced by
Hugh Pigot the following year, the situation did not improve as Pigot, though also a supporter of Keppel, did not approve of Laforey's provisions for the fitting out and sale of captured enemy ships and the two had a public disagreement which ended with Laforey's dispatch to England, where he was made commissioner of
Devonport Dockyard. He remained in this role for several years, repeatedly passed over for promotion as a consequence of the enemies he had made during his service in the West Indies.
French Revolutionary Wars
In 1789, after a legal challenge and a long dispute, Laforey was granted his flag with seniority back to 1787 and was also made a
baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...
as compensation from friends in the Admiralty.
With this promotion secured, Laforey returned to the
Leeward Islands Station
The Leeward Islands Station originally known as the Commander-in-Chief at Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands was a formation or command of the Kingdom of Great Britain and then the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed at English Harbour, Antigua, L ...
as commander in chief,
where he was still stationed at the outbreak of the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...
in 1793. Taking advantage of the confused situation of the French colonies, Laforey raised the Antigua militia and invaded and captured the French colony of
Tobago
Tobago () is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trini ...
in a short and highly successful campaign supported by his son
Francis Laforey, a navy commander who was rewarded with a captaincy for his part in the operation.
In July Laforey was in England but he returned to the Leeward Islands Station with the rank a full admiral in 1795.
[
Arriving in the Leeward Islands once more, Laforey commanded the force which captured the Dutch South American colonies of ]Demerara
Demerara ( nl, Demerary, ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state ...
, Essequibo, and Berbice and also presided over the forces which put down slave rebellions on St Vincent, Grenada and Dominica. In early 1796, Laforey laid plans for an invasion of St Lucia
Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindi ...
, but his deteriorating health prompted his replacement in that year by Sir Hugh Christian. Taking passage on HMS ''Majestic'' back to England, Laforey died en route of Yellow Fever
Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...
and was buried at Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
upon arrival. Laforey's son Francis was later an admiral in his own right and fought as captain of HMS ''Spartiate'' at the Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...
. He inherited his father's estates and baronetcy but died without issue in 1835.
Notes
References
*
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laforey, John
1729 births
1796 deaths
Royal Navy admirals
Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain
Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War
Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
Royal Navy personnel of the Seven Years' War
Huguenot participants in the American Revolution