Career
He was appointed to the Privy Council in 1766. Saunders joined the Royal Navy in 1727. He later commanded HMS Gloucester and then HMS Yarmouth.
In December 1755 he was made comptroller of the navy and in January 1756 and was sent to Gibraltar as Second in Command of the Mediterranean Fleet.
In January 1757 he became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet. He held the post until May 1757.
He commanded the fleet which brought James Wolfe to Quebec in 1759 and consolidated the dead general"s victory after the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. In April 1760 he resumed his role as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet and blockaded Cadiz preventing the French and Spanish fleets from sailing.
Cape Saunders, on the Otago coast of New Zealand, was named in his honour by Captain James Cook, who had served under Saunders in Canada.