page_title: Newfoundland expedition (1702)
section_title: Cruising for the French convoy
hierarchical_section_title: Newfoundland expedition (1702) / Raids / Cruising for the French convoy
caption_attribution_description: Caption from the museum's website Charles Jervas was born in King’s County, Ireland in 1675. By the mid-1690s he had moved to London, where he studied with Sir Godfrey Kneller for approximately one year. Following a sojourn on the continent where he acted as an agent for English collectors in Rome, Jervas returned to London in 1708, quickly establishing himself as a fashionable society portraitist. Some of his most accomplished portraits are of Anne, Countess of Sunderland (private coll.) and the author Jonathan Swift (National Portrait Gallery, London). With the help of his most influential patron, the Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole, Jervas was appointed Principal Painter to the King in 1723, painting coronation portraits of George II and Queen Caroline (Guildhall Art Gallery) as well as the young Prince William, Duke of Cumberland (NPG). This post Jervas held for the remainder of his life. Jervas’ portrait of Queen Anne is based on a version of Sir Godfrey Kneller’s state portrait, the finest example of which is held at Wrest Park, signed and dated 1705. It appears that the Queen herself did not own a version of her own state portrait, and this particular version was commissioned by Queen Caroline. Caroline was fascinated with ancestry, and this portrait was originally displayed as part of a series of British royal portraits in the Queen’s Gallery at Kensington.
context_page_description: The Newfoundland expedition was a naval raiding expedition led by English Captain John Leake between August and October 1702 that targeted French colonial settlements on the North Atlantic island of Newfoundland and its satellite Saint Pierre. The expedition occurred in the early days of Queen Anne's War, as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession is sometimes known.
  Leake's fleet descended on French settlements on the southern shore of Newfoundland, destroying fishing stages and other infrastructure. They captured fishing and trade ships, and destroyed most of the settlement at Saint Pierre. In a final flurry of activity before returning to England, Leake captured several ships from the French merchant convoy as it headed for Europe. More than 50 ships were taken in total, and six seasonal settlements were destroyed. The strongly fortified French base at Plaisance was not attacked.
context_section_description: Leake then divided the fleet to begin the return to Europe. Montagu and Looe were assigned to convoy merchants and prizes destined for Portugal, while Reserve, Charles Galley, and Firebrand were set to escort those destined for England. Leake took the rest of the fleet and cruised off Cape Race for several weeks, hoping to intercept the French convoy that would have to pass nearby before winter set it.  Weather conditions were often quite stormy, but Leake managed to take eight prizes before he finally sailed for England in mid-October.
caption: Queen Anne, portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller
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