Background
Edward Boscawen was born in Tregothnan, Cornwall, England on 19 August 1711. He was the third son of Hugh Boscawen, 16t Viscount Falmouth!
Edward Boscawen was born in Tregothnan, Cornwall, England on 19 August 1711. He was the third son of Hugh Boscawen, 16t Viscount Falmouth!
The young Edward joined the navy at the age of 12 aboard the HMS Superb of 60-guns. The Superb was sent to the West Indies with Admiral Francis Hosier. Boscawen stayed with Superb for three years during the Anglo-Spanish War. On 25 May 1732 Boscawen was promoted lieutenant and in the August of the same year rejoined his old ship the 44-gun fourth rate Hector in the Mediterranean. On 12 March 1736 Boscawen was promoted by Admiral Sir John Norris to the temporary command of the 50-gun HMS Leopard. He was ordered to accompany Admiral Edward Vernon to the West Indies in preparation for the oncoming war with Spain.
In 1744 he captured the French frigate "Medee", commanded by M. de Hocquart, the first ship taken in the war.
In May 1747 he signalized himself in the engagement off Cape Finisterre, and was wounded in the shoulder with a musket-ball.
Hocquart again became his prisoner, and the French ships, ten in number, were taken.
On the 29th of July 1748 he arrived off Fort St David's, and soon after laid siege to Pondicherry; but the sickness of his men and the approach of the monsoons led to the raising of the siege.
Soon afterwards he received news of the peace, and Madras was delivered up to him by the French.
In April 1750 he arrived in England, and was the next year made one of the lords of the Admiralty, and chosen an elder brother of the Trinity House.
In February 1755 he was appointed vice-admiral, and in April he intercepted the French squadron bound to North America, and took the " Alcide " and"Lys"of sixty-four guns each.
Hocquart became his prisoner for the third time, and Boscawen returned to Spithead with his prizes and 1500 prisoners.
For this exploit, he received the thanks of parliament.
In 1758 he was appointed admiral of the blue and commander-in-chief of the expedition to Cape Breton, when, in conjunction with General Amherst, he took the fortress of Louisburg, and the island of Cape Breton-services for which he again received the thanks of the House of Commons.
In 1759, being appointed to command in the Mediterranean, he pursued the French fleet, commanded by M. de la Clue, and after a sharp engagement in Lagos Bay took three large ships and burnt two, returning to Spithead with his prizes and 2000 prisoners.
The victory defeated the proposed concentration of the French fleet in Brest to cover an invasion of England.
Quotations: Boscawen was quoted as saying "To be sure I lose the fruits of the earth, but then, I am gathering the flowers of the Sea" (1756)
In 1742 Boscawen married Frances Evelyn Glanville (1719–1805), with whom he had three sons and two daughters.
