John Borlase Warren

Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, 1st Baronet GCB GCH PC (2 September 1753 – 27 February 1822) was a British Royal Navy officer, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1807.

Sir John Borlase Warren, 1st Baronet
Sir John Borlase Warren, by Daniel Orme, 1799
Born	2 September 1753 Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, England
Died	27 February 1822(1822-02-27) (aged 68) Greenwich Hospital, London[1]
Allegiance	Kingdom of Great Britain
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1771–1799
Rank	Admiral
Battles/wars	Battle of Tory Island Invasion of France (1795) (incomplete list)
Awards	Baronet

Naval career

Born in Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, he was the son and heir of John Borlase Warren (died 1763[2]) of Stapleford and Little Marlow. He entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1769, but in 1771 entered the navy as an able seaman;[3] in 1774 he became member of Parliament for Great Marlow; and in 1775 he was created a baronet, the baronetcy held by his ancestors, the Borlases, having become extinct in 1689.
On the 12th of Dec. 1780 he married Caroline daughter of Lt.-Gen. Sir John Clavering. She died in 1839.

His career as a seaman really began in 1777, and two years later he obtained command of a ship. In April 1794, as Commodore of the frigate squadron off the north west French coast assisting in the blockade of Brest, Warren and his squadron captured a number of French frigates.[1] In 1795, he commanded one of the two squadrons carrying troops for the Quiberon expedition and in 1796 his frigate squadron off Brest is said to have captured or destroyed 220 vessels.[1] In October 1798, a French fleet — carrying 5,000 men — sailed from Brest intending to invade Ireland.[1] The plan was frustrated in no small part due to the squadron under his command during the Action of 12 October 1798 off Donegal.

Memorial to Sir John Borlase Warren, 1st Baronet, in St. Mary's Church, Attenborough

In 1802, he was sworn of the Privy Council and sent to St. Petersburg as ambassador extraordinary,[1] but he did not forsake the sea. In 1806 he captured a large French warship, the Marengo, at the Action of 13 March 1806. He was commander-in-chief on the North American Station from 1807 to 1810.[1] He became an admiral in 1810, and was commander-in-chief on this Station again from 1813 to 1814.[1] While in Halifax he determined the late commander John Shortland's dog had been stolen from London and brought to Halifax.[4] He had the dog returned to London to Shortland's widow. During the British invasion of Maryland in 1814, he led a detail of British troops that occupied Havre de Grace and set fire to much of the town, including the home of Commodore John Rodgers.[5] He died on 27 February 1822. His two sons predeceased him. His daughter and heiress, Frances Maria (1784–1837), married George Venables-Vernon, 4th Baron Vernon. Their son was George Venables-Vernon, 5th Baron Vernon.

There is a monument to him in St. Mary's Church, Attenborough in Nottinghamshire. A popular figure in the area of his birth, there are a number of pubs named after him in Nottingham and nearby towns.

Notes

1. Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
2. Stanford University,
3. "Warren, John Borlase (WRN769JB)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
4. Naval Chronicles, p.197
5. Paullin, Commodore John Rodgers:...(1910), pp.279-280

References

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Warren, Sir John Borlase". Encyclopædia Britannica. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir John Borlase Warren

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by William Clayton William Dickinson	Member of Parliament for Great Marlow 1774–1784 With: William Clayton 1774–83 William Clayton (later 4th Bt) 1783–84	Succeeded by William Clayton (later 4th Bt) Sir Thomas Rich
Preceded by Robert Smith Daniel Parker Coke	Member of Parliament for Nottingham 1797–1800 With: Daniel Parker Coke	Succeeded by Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Parliament of Great Britain	Member of Parliament for Nottingham 1801–1806 With: Daniel Parker Coke 1801–02, 1803–06 Joseph Birch 1802–03	Succeeded by Daniel Coke John Smith
Preceded by Thomas Grenville Sir William Young, 2nd Bt.	Member of Parliament for Buckingham 1807 With: Thomas Grenville	Succeeded by Thomas Grenville Richard Neville
Military offices
Preceded by George Cranfield Berkeley	Commander-in-Chief, North American Station 1807–1810	Succeeded by Herbert Sawyer
Preceded by Herbert Sawyer	Commander-in-Chief, North American Station 1813–1814	Succeeded by Sir Alexander Cochrane
Baronetage of Great Britain
New creation	Baronet (of Little Marlow) 1775–1822	Extinct