page_title: John Deane (sailor)
section_title: British diplomat
hierarchical_section_title: John Deane (sailor) / British diplomat
context_page_description: Captain John Deane was an English sailor with a long career in the Royal Navy and Russian Navy. He rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy, commanding in the Capture of Gibraltar. Deane later commanded a trading vessel, the Nottingham Galley, shipwrecked on Boon Island in 1710. Deane spent 1714–1721 in service with the Tsar Peter the Great commanding a Russian naval ship. He then worked in Flanders as British Consul to the Port of Ostend until 1740, when he retired to his native Wilford, Nottingham. He died in 1761 from injuries in a violent assault. His wife died on the next day.
  The many accounts of his life include that of William Henry Giles Kingston, who confirms that Deane "really existed", and Richard H. Warner. His shipwreck on Boon Island and suspected cannibalism appear in accounts by W. C. Riess and A. Nightingale.
context_section_description: In 1725, following his dismissal from the Russian Navy, Deane was enlisted as consul at St Petersburg. Deane was expelled from Russia seventeen days later. In this time, Deane produced two detailed reports for the British Government. "An Account of Affairs in Russia, June–July 1725," a brief regarding the political fallout following the death of Peter the Great. Deane also produced "The Present State of the Maritime Power of Russia" which gave explicit detail on the Baltic Fleet.
  Deane later intercepted a courier for the Jacobites who had been enlisted to deliver classified intelligence to an agent in Rotterdam, detailing Jacobite plans for the coming spring. These actions, in addition to his earlier intelligence reports from St Petersburg, brought Deane to the attention of the British prime minister, Robert Walpole, as well as the secretary of state for the Northern Department, Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend.
  In 1728 Deane was promoted to British Consul to the Port of Ostend at the request of Townshend.
  Deane's work at the Port of Ostend was greatly valued by the British Government with the arrangement of a good annual salary of £200 with expenses. He was noted for his effective suppression of the Ostend Company, the first attempt by the Holy Roman Empire to monopolise trade with the East Indies. Following eight years of service as British Consul in Ostend, Deane retired in 1736 to his home in Wilford, Nottinghamshire.
caption: Charles Townshend (1674–1738)
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