Robert Swanton

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Robert Swanton
Died11 July 1765 (1765-07-12)
AllegianceKingdom of Great Britain
Service/branchRoyal Navy
RankAdmiral
Commands heldHMS Mary Galley
HMS Hampton Court
HMS Vanguard
Leeward Islands Station
Battles/warsFrench and Indian War

Rear Admiral Robert Swanton (c.1710–1765) was a Royal Navy officer who became commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands Station.

Naval career[edit]

Swanton joined the Royal Navy on 8 September 1724 as a cadet.[1]

He was given an operational post as lieutenant in January 1734.[2] In May 1735 he was serving on HMS Rippon moving to HMS Oxford in April 1737. In February 1738 he moved to HMS Flamborough on which he was part of the attack on St Augustine in 1740.[1]

Promoted to captain in 1743, he took command of the fifth-rate HMS Mary Galley in August 1744, the third-rate HMS Hampton Court in 1757 and the third-rate HMS Vanguard later that year.[1] In HMS Vanguard he saw action at the Siege of Louisbourg in 1758 and at the Battle of Pointe-aux-Trembles in 1760 during the French and Indian War.[2] He became commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands Station in 1763.[3]

He died in Westminster on 11 July 1765.[1]

Family[edit]

His wife Emma died in 1822. They had a daughter, Frances (d.1841).[1]

He was brother-in-law to Admiral John Carter Allen.[4]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Robert Swanton (d.1765)". Three Decks. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Dictionary of Canadian Biography SWANTON, ROBERT, naval officer". biographi.ca. University of Toronto, 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  3. ^ Haydn, Joseph (13 June 2008). The Book of Dignities: Containing Lists of the Official Personages of the British Empire ... from the Earliest Periods to the Present Time ... Together with the Sovereigns and Rulers of Europe, from the Foundation of Their Respective States; the Peerage of England and Great Britain Original 1851 Digitized by the University of Michigan. Longmans, Brown, Green, and Longmans. p. 279.
  4. ^ "John Cater Allen". More than Nelson. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
Military offices
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Leeward Islands Station
1763–1764
Succeeded by