26 Facts About Hugh Palliser

Hugh Palliser went on to serve as Commodore Governor of Newfoundland, then Controller of the Navy and then First Naval Lord.

Palliser was the only son of Hugh Palliser and Mary Robinson and was born at Kirk Deighton, in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Hugh Palliser's parents died when he was still young, so he and his sisters were raised by relatives on his mother's side.

Hugh Palliser entered the navy in 1735 as a midshipman on HMS Aldborough commanded by his uncle Nicholas Robinson.

Hugh Palliser followed his uncle to HMS Kennington in 1737, and then to HMS Tiger and HMS Essex.

Hugh Palliser continued to serve aboard Essex, at first under Robinson, and after he was superseded, under Captain Richard Norris, the son of Sir John Norris.

The sailor took refuge aboard the ship, and Hugh Palliser refused to hand him over.

Hugh Palliser was thereupon arrested in the sailor's place and held for several days in the Tolbooth Jail in Edinburgh.

Hugh Palliser was eventually released by order of the Scottish Lords of Session, who invoked their authority to supersede that of the judge of the vice-admiralty court in Edinburgh who had sought to commit Palliser for trial.

In 1759 Hugh Palliser participated in the successful British capture of Quebec City, commanding the seamen who landed and took possession of Lower Town.

In 1760 Hugh Palliser was sent to the Mediterranean Sea to chase a small French squadron which had slipped out of the port at Toulon.

Hugh Palliser bottled the French boats up at several ports in Turkey.

In 1762 Hugh Palliser commanded a four-ship armada dispatched to retake St John's, Newfoundland, but the area was already in British control when he arrived following the Battle of Signal Hill.

In 1764 Hugh Palliser was named Governor and Commander-in-Chief at Newfoundland.

Hugh Palliser's forces encountered a similar French force which was ostensibly regulating their remaining fishing grounds in the area, but Palliser perceived that they had altered their maps to show they controlled more area than had been agreed upon in the negotiations which ended the conflict in this area.

Hugh Palliser actively supported the fisheries as a source of trained seamen for the Royal Navy.

Hugh Palliser sought to restrict further settlement of Newfoundland, so to encourage the British-based industry.

In 1770 Commodore Hugh Palliser was appointed Comptroller of the Navy, and in that same year was elected an elder brother of the Trinity House, which oversees British lighthouses and provides general expertise to the government on naval matters.

Historian Sean Cadigan, author of Hope and Deception in Conception Bay, has since linked Hugh Palliser's Act with the high-valuation of women's labour in 18th Century Newfoundland.

Hugh Palliser was forced to resign from Parliament and his other posts.

When no public refutation was forthcoming, Hugh Palliser demanded that a court martial be held to try Keppel on charges of "misconduct and neglect of duty".

Hugh Palliser was defended by Lord Sandwich, but still had to resign from Parliament and as Lieutenant-General of the Marines.

Hugh Palliser then demanded that a court martial be convened against him so that he could present his version of events during his defence.

Hugh Palliser would have supported his elevation to Master in 1757.

On Cook's death, Hugh Palliser erected a memorial to Cook at the Vache, his estate near Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire.

The Royal Naval Museum website, accessed 6 August 2009, provides a biography, Biography: Hugh Palliser, which states that Palliser "was born on 26th February 1723".