Peter Warren (Royal Navy officer)

Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Warren

c. 1751, by Thomas Hudson
Born 10 March 1703
Warrenstown, County Meath, Ireland
Died 29 July 1751(1751-07-29) (aged 48)
Dublin, Ireland
Allegiance  Kingdom of Great Britain
Service/branch  Royal Navy
Rank Vice-Admiral of the Red
Battles/wars Siege of Louisbourg
First Battle of Cape Finisterre
Awards Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath
Relations Matthew Aylmer, 1st Baron Aylmer
Other work MP for Westminster

Admiral Sir Peter Warren, KB (10 March 1703 – 29 July 1752) was a British naval officer from Ireland who commanded the naval forces in the attack on the French fortress of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia in 1745. He later sat as MP for Westminster. He was the youngest son of Michael Warren and Catherine Plunkett, née Aylmer (his mother was the first wife of Sir Nicholas Plunkett).

A brother of his mother was Matthew Aylmer, 1st Baron Aylmer (died 1720), admiral and commander-in-chief, had entered the navy under the protection of the Duke of Buckingham, as a lieutenant, in 1678, and helped secure positions for first Oliver Warren, Peter's older brother, and later, Peter. Warren signed on as an ordinary seaman in Dublin, Ireland in 1716 when he was 13 years old, and he and his brother initially served together.[1] He rapidly rose in the ranks, becoming a Captain in 1727. His ship patrolled American colonial waters to provide protection from French forces. He became involved in colonial politics and land speculation.

In 1744, he was made commodore and commanded a 16 ship squadron off the Leeward Islands, capturing 24 ships in four months. In 1745, Warren commanded a group of ships that supported the Massachusetts forces in the capture of Louisbourg. The prize system of the time allowed naval officers to profit from the capture of enemy ships, and this expedition earned Warren a fortune, a promotion to the rank of Rear Admiral of the Blue, and a knighthood.

He was second in command of the British fleet on the Devonshire at the Battle of Cape Finisterre. His conduct in the battle won him further fame, a promotion to Vice-Admiral of the Red,[2] and much prize-money. While on a visit to Ireland in 1752, he died suddenly in Dublin "of a most Violent fever."[3]

In 1731, he married Susannah Delancey (1707–1771), a descendant of the Schuyler family and the Van Cortlandt family, daughter of Stephen Delancey, and sister of James Delancey, chief justice and lieutenant governor of the province of New York. Warren and his wife had six children, two of whom, a daughter and his only son died in 1744 during the smallpox epidemic in New York.[1] He moved his wife and three surviving daughters to England in 1747. Catherine, his youngest daughter, was a few months old at the time of his death, and died at age three or four.[1]

Warren's daughter Susanna married Colonel William Skinner (not to be confused with Lt. General William Skinner, who became chief engineer of Great Britain), who was a brother of American Revolution General Cortlandt Skinner, and both brothers were grandsons of Stephanus Van Cortlandt, and thus cousins of Susannah DeLancey. This meant that William Skinner and Susannah Warren were cousins, once removed. Warren's granddaughter, Susanna Maria Skinner, was married to Henry Gage, 3rd Viscount Gage, son of General Thomas Gage. As Thomas Gage's wife, Margaret Kemble, was the daughter of Susannah Delancey's cousin, Gertrude Bayard, this made Susannah Skinner and Henry Gage both second cousins, once removed (via William Skinner) and third cousins (via Susanna Warren).

(Cortlandt Skinner's daughter Catherine was married to Sir William Henry Robinson, a son of Beverley Robinson. Beverley Robinson was a first cousin once removed of Judith Robinson, first wife of the rebel Carter Braxton).

Warren's lands included several thousand acres on the south side of the Mohawk River west of Schenectady, New York, now known as Florida, Montgomery County, New York, roughly across from present day Amsterdam. He brought two nephews, William Johnson, eventually Sir William Johnson, and Michael Tyrrell to clear and manage the land. Tyrrell soon left, asking his uncle for support with a naval appointment. Tyrrell had a very distinguished naval career, rising to Admiral. He became sick while headed to London from the West Indies, and was buried at sea.[1] In 1741, Warren built Warren House, a mansion overlooking the Hudson River on his 300-acre (120-hectare) estate in Greenwich Village.[4] He also owned property on Long Island (Warren's Wharf), the van Cortland Estate (Westchester County, New York), and South Carolina.[1]

The towns of Warren, Rhode Island and Warren, New Hampshire are named after him, as well as Warren Street in Lower Manhattan.

Warren family tree

  Sir Christopher Plunkett =Lady Plunkett (dau. of Matthew, 5th Earl of Louth)     Sir Christopher Aylmer, Baron Balrath  =Margaret     
                 
                                                          |                              |
                                                          |                              |
                                          Sir Nicholas Plunkett = Catherine Aylmer = Michael Warren of Warrenstown, Co. Meath.
                                                                                         |                                         
                                                          |                              |
                                                          |                              |
                                           Oliver  & several sons & 1 dau    Peter Warren=Susanah de Lancey
                                                                                         |
   ______________________________________________________________________________________|________________
   |                                                |                                       |
   |                                                |                                       |           
   Charlotte Warren                           Anne Warren                       Susan(na) Warren
  =Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon  =Charles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton    =Gen. William Skinner
   |                                                                                               |                
   |                                                                                               |                
 * Montagu Bertie, 5th Earl of Abingdon                                              Susannah Skinner
 * George FitzRoy, 2nd Baron Southampton                                = Henry Gage, 3rd Viscount Gage

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Gwyn, J. (1974). The enterprising admiral: The personal fortune of Admiral Sir Peter Warren. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.
  2. ↑ Warren Monument, Westminster Abbey
  3. ↑ Donald I. Stoetzel, Encyclopedia of the French & Indian War in North America, 1754–1763
  4. ↑ Letter of William L. Stone, The American Historical Register, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1895

Sources

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Charles Edwin
Viscount Perceval		 Member of Parliament for Westminster
1747–1752
With: Viscount Trentham		 Succeeded by
Edward Cornwallis
Viscount Trentham
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