John Norris (Admiral)

Admiral of the Fleet and Commander-in-Chief Sir John Norris

Sir John Norris (* 1670/1671; † June 13 or 14, 1749) was a British naval officer of the 17th and 18th centuries who ended his service in the Royal Navy under King George II as Commander-in-Chief.

First years of life

No information is known about his first years of life. Neither his parents nor his place or year of birth could be determined with certainty. There has been speculation that a Lancashire John Norris of Speke born in 1662 would become the future admiral. But the Norris Papers, published in 1846 by the Chatham Society, make a false assumption. John Campbell's claim in "Lives of the Admirals" that his ancestors came from a respected Irish family is also unsubstantiated. The first evidence came when he was hired on September 14, 1680 as servant of Captain Richard Borthwick on the Cloucester Hulk in Woolwich. Other employers were the future Admiral Cloudesley Shovell and Admiral Edward Russel . After the naval battle in Bantry Bay in 1689, he was appointed lieutenant on the warship Edgar for his special service in this battle . Of many missions, only the one in the battle of Vélez-Málaga in 1704 should be mentioned.

Early career

In May 1699 he married Elizabeth Aylmer, the daughter of Admiral Matthew Aylmer , which helped his career. It was in 1705 for Knight Bachelor beaten and rose in 1709 to the rank of admiral on. He was a Member of Parliament from 1708 until his death . In 1707 he served under Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell and took part in the siege of Toulon . Norris was also present with his flagship HMS Torbay when the so-called Great Disaster off the Isles of Scilly occurred on October 22nd, 1707 , in the course of which the Royal Navy lost Shovell and four of his ships including about 2000 crew members .

Norris, whose nickname was “Foul Weather Jack”, was deployed several times in the Baltic Sea under King George I , to demonstrate the strength of the Kingdom of Great Britain and to enforce trade interests on behalf of the King .

Baltic operations

In 1715, Norris was sent to the Baltic Sea with a fleet to officially accompany merchant convoys and at the same time put pressure on the expanding Kingdom of Sweden . He had contact with Peter I , who offered him to be used as commander of the Russian Navy , which Norris refused.

In 1716 Norris was reinstated in Nordic waters to prevent the Swedes from conquering Scotland in the interests of the Jacobites . He was also active as a mediator and in 1717 unsuccessfully negotiated political issues between Russia and the Kingdom of Great Britain with Tsar Peter I in Amsterdam . After the death of King Charles XII of Sweden in 1718, George I entered into negotiations with Sweden, which should improve mutual relations. As a result, Norris was used on the Swedish east coast to protect against Russian devastation. The Russians eventually withdrew to home waters, so Norris sailed back to England.

He was repeatedly entrusted with the protection of Swedish coasts, most recently in 1727. In 1737 he was finally appointed Admiral of the Fleet and Commander-in-Chief .

In 1739 Norris was also involved in social projects and supported Thomas Coram in founding a hospital for foundlings .

French invasion

In 1744, Norris was entrusted with the external defense of the British Isles and should counter a constant threat of a French invasion . When an invasion attempt actually took place in 1744, Norris was prepared. However, the invasion was prevented by strong storms, which resulted in high French losses and initially ended the threat. Norris retired that same year after 54 years of service.

Remarks

1. ↑ (English), means "bad weather jack" and refers to the fact that Norris got caught in a storm almost every time his fleet left
2. ↑ highest admiral rank in the Royal Navy

Literature / sources

• Dava Sobel : Longitude. The True Story of an Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time . Walker PRess, New York 2003, ISBN 0-8027-7593-4 (EA London 1998).
  • Longitude, the illustrated edition. The true story of a lonely genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time . Berlin-Verlag, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-8270-0364-4 (EA Berlin 1999).
• David Aldridge: Sir John Norris 1660? –1749 . In: Peter Le Fevre, Richard Harding (Eds.): Precursors of Nelson. British Admirals of the eighteenth century . Chatham Press, London 2000, pp. 128-149, ISBN 1-86176-062-0 .