Career
He played a key role in defusing the crisis caused by the 1797 naval mutiny at Spithead. In 1763, at 22, John was elected an alderman of the (then) borough of Portsmouth and, at the same time, started to act as a magistrate. He was mayor for a few months in 1769, but, as he was a Whig, the Tories soon turned him out of office.