Philip Vanbrugh (c. 1681 – 22 July 1753) was an officer of 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 ...
. He served as Commodore Governor of
Newfoundland.
Family
Vanbrugh was born in
Chester and baptised there on 31 January 1682. He was the youngest child of Giles Vanbrugh, a London cloth merchant and later a sugar merchant in Chester, and his wife Elizabeth, née Carleton, herself youngest child of
Sir Dudley Carleton and Lucy, née Croft. Vanbrugh's brothers included Captain
Charles Vanbrugh
Charles Vanbrugh (c. 1680 – 2 November 1740) was an officer of the Royal Navy and member of parliament for Plymouth.
Born in Chester, Charles Vanbrugh was baptised at Guildhall, Chester, Holy Trinity, Chester on 27 February 1679/1680. In June ...
RN MP and
Sir John Vanbrugh
Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restora ...
, architect and dramatist.
Philip Vanbrugh married Mary Griffith in
Arnold, Nottinghamshire on 24 July 1715 and they had one known child, Philippia, born 1716, ''la belle consulesse'', who married Burrington Goldsworthy of Down House, Dorset, British consul at
Leghorn, Italy
Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...
and later at
Cadiz. Their son, Lieutenant-General
Philip Goldsworthy, became a favoured equerry to
King George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
and from 1772 his unmarried sister, Martha Caroline was sub-governess, under
Lady Charlotte Finch
Lady Charlotte Finch (''née'' Fermor; 14 February 1725 – 11 July 1813) was a British royal governess. She was governess to the children of King George III and Queen Charlotte for over thirty years, holding the position from 1762 to 1793. He ...
, of the 15 royal children.
Career
Philip Vanbrugh entered the navy, and after some years of service, was on 27 November 1710 appointed to command the 28-gun . In 1716 he was in command of the 32-gun , and was sent to
Gibraltar
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, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
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, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
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. He was still in command of her by 1718, when he served with the fleet under Admiral
George Byng and was present at the
Battle of Cape Passaro near
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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on 11 August 1718. His elder brother Charles commanded during the battle. In 1721 Philip VanBrugh took command of , Vice-Admiral
Francis Hosier
Vice Admiral Francis Hosier (1673–1727) was a British naval officer. He was a lieutenant on Rooke's flagship at the Battle of Barfleur in 1693. He captured the ''Heureux'' off Cape Clear in 1710 and distinguished himself in action with the ...
's flagship at the disastrous
Blockade of Porto Bello
The Blockade of Porto Bello was a failed British naval action against the Spanish port of Porto Bello in present-day Panama between 1726 and 1727 as part of the Anglo-Spanish War. The British were attempting to blockade the port to stop the ...
between 1726 and 1727. After months spent on the ineffective and costly operation, during which not a single British shot was fired, the British finally withdrew. 3,000 to 4,000 men had died from
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 other tropical diseases, among them was Hosier, who died while the ''Breda'' was off Vera Cruz. Like many of the ships in that fleet ''Breda'' had suffered badly from worms attacking the hull, and she was broken up in 1730.
Vanbrugh survived the unhealthy posting, and in 1731 was given command of the 60-gun . He moved to take command of the 70-gun in 1734, and served in the fleet under Admiral
Sir John Norris. Around 1736 he took command of the 50-gun . On 14 June 1738 he was appointed governor of Newfoundland. During his brief term as governor, Vanbrugh recorded information about the nature of the fishery and tallied the inhabitants of
Twillingate
Twillingate is a town of 2,121 people located on the Twillingate Islands ("Toulinquet") in Notre Dame Bay, off the north eastern shore of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The town is about north of ...
and
Fogo. In 1739 Vanbrugh was appointed a Commissioner of the Navy, resident at
Plymouth. He died in that office on 22 July 1753, aged about 71.
[John Charnock ''Biographia navalis; or, Impartial memoirs of the lives and characters of officers of the navy of Great Britain, from the year 1660 to the present time; drawn from the most authentic sources, and disposed in a chronological arrangement'' Vol IV, R Faulder, 1796]
References
External links
Biography at Government House ''The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanbrugh, Philip
1680s births
1753 deaths
Governors of Newfoundland Colony
Royal Navy officers
British military personnel of the War of the Quadruple Alliance
British military personnel of the Anglo-Spanish War (1727–1729)
Military personnel from Chester
People from Chester