George Johnstone ( Royal Navy officer ) George Johnstone ( 1730 – 24 May 1787 ) was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the War of the Austrian Succession , the Seven Years ' War and the American War of Independence , rising to the rank of post - captain and serving for a time as commodore of a squadron . In a multifaceted career he was also a member of Parliament , a director of the East India Company , a member of the Carlisle Peace Commission and the first Governor of West Florida from 1763 until 1767 . Johnstone was born into a gentry family in 1730 , and embarked on a naval career . Early in his service there occurred several incidents which revealed both positive and negative aspects of his character . He was involved in encounters with the enemy where he was praised for his bravery , and incidents where he was censured for disobedience . He rose through the ranks to his own commands and had some success with small cruisers against enemy merchants and privateer s . After the end of the Seven Years ' War he had made friends with several powerful figures , and was appointed Governor of West Florida . He achieved some degree of success in the delicate operations of running a new colony , but ultimately clashed with his political masters and failed to cultivate support amongst the wider sections of colonial society . Returning to Britain he became active in politics , supporting conciliatory measures for the Americans , and the removal of government interference from the affairs of the East India Company . His stance on the former led to his appointment as a member of the Carlisle Peace Commission , but he was accused of offering bribes and the Americans would have nothing to do with him . Returning to active naval service with a lucrative posting as commodore , he cruised with success off Portugal , and was then entrusted with a secret mission to capture the Cape Colony from the Dutch Republic . While en route to the Cape , he was surprised by a French force sent to thwart his goal , and though he fought it off at the Battle of Porto Praya , he allowed the French to push on and reinforce the Cape . Thwarted in his mission , he had some consolation in discovering a valuable fleet of Dutch merchants , and capturing most of them . Returning to politics in England after the war he spoke on a number of issues , but was not asked to join an administration . He became a director of the East India Company towards the end of his life , before illness forced him to retire from business and politics shortly before his death in 1787 . Family and early life . George Johnstone was born in 1730 in Dumfriesshire the fourth son of Sir James Johnstone , 3rd Baronet of Westerhall , Dumfries , and his wife Barbara Murray , the oldest sister of the literary patron Patrick Murray , 5th Lord Elibank . He was a younger brother of William Johnstone ( later Sir William Pulteney ) . War of the Austrian Succession and Seven Years War . He began his career at sea in the Merchant Navy , then entered the Royal Navy in 1746 . He served in the War of the Austrian Succession , spending some time aboard , where he gained a reputation for bravery for an instance when he boarded an enemy fireship so that it could be towed away from a British squadron off Port Louis , Hispaniola . He spent some time as a midshipman aboard under Captain John Crookshanks . For reasons unknown Crookshanks refused to grant Johnstone his certificate , upon which Johnstone challenged him to a duel . The challenge being accepted , the two duelled and Crookshanks was wounded in the neck . The end of the war in 1748 left him without active employment , though he passed his lieutenant ' s examination in 1749 . He spent some time in the merchant service during the years of peace , captaining at least one merchant vessel to the Caribbean . He was recalled to the navy at his new rank on the outbreak of the Seven Years ' War , serving aboard . He was however soon court - martialed for " insubordination and disobedience " , and though he was found guilty his record of gallantry in combat was taken into account , and he was given a reprimand in 1757 and ordered to resume his duties . Johnstone went on to serve aboard , seeing action at the Battle of Cap - Français on 21 October 1757 and receiving praise for his bravery from the squadron ' s commander , Commodore Arthur Forrest . Johnstone however made an enemy of Rear - Admiral Thomas Cotes as a result of a dispute over prize money . Despite this he was briefly acting captain of the 70 - gun in June 1759 . By 1759 Johnstone , by now in poor health , found himself without a ship . After a period of delays , the first lord of the Admiralty George Anson , 1st Baron Anson gave him his first command , the 14 - gun sloop . She was initially assigned to carry out escort duties in the North Sea , during one of which Johnstone was faced with a mutiny , which he skilfully put down with minimal loss of life . " Hornet " was then ordered to Lisbon . On the voyage , Johnstone captured several prizes , and took several more after his arrival . Among them was the 8 - gun privateer " Chevalier D ’ Artesay " off Granville on 8 January 1761 , followed by the 6 - gun privateer " Société " on 15 January . He was then sent to inform Admiral George Rodney in January 1762 of the British declaration of war against Spain . Rodney was able to use this early notice to capture a number of valuable prizes , before the Spanish in the region became aware that they were at war . Johnstone was promoted to post - captain in May 1762 , shortly before the end of the Seven Years ' War . On 11 August 1762 he received command of the 24 - gun . He was appointed to the 24 - gun before the end of the year , but received a new commission before he could take it up . Governor of West Florida . Johnstone was appointed colonial governor of West Florida in November 1763 by the Prime Minister , John Stuart , 3rd Earl of Bute . Johnstone was friends at the time with the dramatist and fellow Scot John Home , who was at this point Bute ' s secretary . Johnstone was one of several Scots appointed by Bute to govern all four of the new British colonies , which provoked much criticism from the opposition . Johnstone became notorious for cudgelling a writer for " The North Briton " over his comments on Bute ' s appointments . Johnstone took up his position eagerly , feeling that his new province ' s strategic location would give it a profitable future , and envisaging West Florida as ‘ The Emporium of the New World ’ . He arrived at his capital , Pensacola , on 21 October 1764 and having established himself , went on to encourage immigration while keeping order among a relatively lawless pioneer population . He carried out skilful negotiations with the local Indians , and established the basics of civil government in the region . He oversaw the establishment of a fairly effective provincial legislative assembly , and the elections of representatives to it , which he worked well enough with to be able to pass a number of pieces of legislation . He did not enjoy a similar relationship with the military in society , through his claim of an authority over them which was contrary to usual colonial practice . By 1766 he had determined on the necessity of war with the Creek Indians , despite the government ' s attempts to secure peace in North America . He soon clashed with William Petty , 2nd Earl of Shelburne , the new Secretary of State for the Southern Department , which led to Shelburne ' s demand for Johnstone ' s removal . By now Johnstone had been frustrated in his hopes for commercial prosperity in the region , and enjoyed little popular support from civil society , and so decided to apply for a leave of absence . He left the colony on 13 January 1767 , and never returned . Shortly after his departure the ministry removed him from his office . During his time in Florida he had begun a long - term relationship with Martha Ford , by whom he had four illegitimate issue , all of whom he supported ; George Lindsay Johnstone ( later a member of Parliament ) , James Primrose Johnstone , Alexander Johnstone and Sophia Johnstone . British politics . He returned to Great Britain in 1767 , where he once more became involved in the politics of the East India Company . He had previously been one of a number of his family to support Robert Clive , 1st Baron Clive in 1764 , but by 1767 Clive was persecuting George ' s brother John Johnstone , who was at this time a member of the company ' s council in Bengal . George Johnstone spoke out and voted against Clive , gaining a reputation as an orator . He sought election to Parliament on the back of this reputation , and after securing the patronage of Sir James Lowther was elected to represent Cockermouth in 1768 . He became part of the parliamentary group supporting Lowther ' s interests , and retained his membership after his election to the constituency of Appleby in 1774 . He continued to be active in the politics of the East India Company , using his parliamentary position to make speeches attacking the North Ministry ' s schemes for Indian reform , and laying the blame for the chaos in Bengal at Clive ' s door . He found favour for doing so with the company ' s court of proprietors , who made him chair of a proprietary committee aiming to block plans for company reform . Despite these efforts , the Prime Minister , Lord North , was able to pass an act regulating the East India Company in 1773 . Johnstone supported the Rockingham faction , which was opposed to North ' s policies in American affairs . He was particularly skilled at denunciations and obstructing legislation , attacking the 1773 Tea Act as ‘ criminally absurd ’ , and argued that the Boston Port Bill would unite Americans against Britain . He also opposed the altering of the charter of Massachusetts and the 1774 Quebec Act . Other matters he spoke on in Parliament included his opposition to the penalization of Irish Catholics , imprisonment for debt , and of impressment in the navy . He also opposed the slave trade , calling it ‘ a commerce of the most barbarous and cruel kind that ever disgraced the transactions of any civilised people ’ . He tended towards pragmatism on other affairs , believing that while taxing Americans was legal , it was inexpedient , and that sending troops to America would be ultimately fruitless and to maintain order would require the garrisoning of forces in the colonies at great expense . Instead he urged conciliation to redress colonial grievances . His temper occasionally got the better of him , leading to difficult situations , and on one occasion a duel with Lord George Germain . The Carlisle Peace Commission . Johnstone ' s stance on conciliation probably led to his selection by North to form part of the peace commission sent to America in 1778 under Frederick Howard , 5th Earl of Carlisle . Confident of success Johnstone attempted to sway influential Americans with the argument that reconciling with Britain was preferable to dependence on France . In his communications he made vague hints of rewards to those who helped secure this outcome , and was eventually accused of attempting to bribe American general Joseph Reed with 10 , 000 guineas . The charge was never proved , but the Continental Congress voted to have nothing more to do with him , and Johnstone returned home in 1778 , before the rest of the commissioners . Return to the Navy . In 1779 Johnstone was offered , and accepted , a post as commodore , despite his previous attacks on the ministry , and his support for conciliation over military intervention . He justified himself with the argument that since France had entered the war on the American side , he could no longer support staying out of the war . He was promised an assignment on the Portuguese station , before which he cruised off the French coast in his flagship , looking for evidence of invasion preparations . It soon became known that the French and Spanish fleets intended to unite and form a large single fleet to invade England . Johnstone took " Romney " to join Admiral Sir Charles Hardy ' s Channel Fleet , and pressed him to seek battle . Hardy instead preferred to avoid action at first , wearing down the enemy fleet at sea while his own continued to refit and resupply from the naval bases along the English coast . Hardy ' s tactics were successful , and rather than confront a fresh and well - equipped British fleet , the enemy armada abandoned their plans and returned to French ports . Johnstone went on to cruise off the Portuguese coast , making several captures that brought him a sizeable sum of prize money . In particular " Romney " , while cruising with and , chased down and captured the 34 - gun Spanish frigate " Santa Margarita " on 11 November 1779 . The following year his ships captured the 38 - gun " Artois " on 3 July 1780 , and the 18 - gun " Perle " on 6 July 1780 , both off Cape Finisterre . Despite these successes he still tried to maintain his influence in politics , suggesting that Spain be offered Gibraltar in exchange for leaving the war , but achieved no apparent backing or result . Assignment to the Cape . Johnstone was then given command of a squadron assigned to carry out an expedition to the River Plate , but in 1780 the Dutch entered the war against Britain and allied with France . Immediately Dutch possessions around the world became valuable targets for the British , and taking advantage of Johnstone ' s expedition , it was quickly reinforced with more warships , transports and East Indiamen , and assigned to carry out a secret expedition to capture the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope . Johnstone sailed on his expedition from Spithead on 13 March 1781 in command of 46 ships , including five ships of the line ( the 74 - gun , the 64 - gun , and the 50 - gun , and ) , four frigates ( the 38 - gun HMS " Apollo " , the 36 - gun , the and the 28 - gun ) , the fireship and the bomb vessel . He also had seven light armed cruisers , two cutters and a sloop to serve as despatch vessels , four transports , eight storeships , and thirteen Indiamen . Also with the expedition were 3 , 000 troops under General Sir William Medows . The expedition at first went well , with the cutter capturing a Dutch merchant ship on the fourth day out of port . However the French had learned of the expedition ' s intent through the services of the spy François Henri de la Motte , based in London , and quickly prepared an expedition under Admiral Pierre André de Suffren to foil Johnstone by beating him to the Cape and reinforcing it . Battle of Porto Praya . Johnstone at first made for the Cape Verde Islands , anchoring at Porto Praya to take on fresh water . Assuming there was no danger , despite records from the port office that a French frigate had arrived a month earlier and warned the inhabitants to prepare for the arrival of a larger French force , Johnstone anchored his fleet so that the warships were moored inshore , and the transports and merchants were outside the defensive lines . He further hampered his ability to fight his ships by sending his best men ashore to collect water , and leaving his decks encumbered with lumber and casks . On 16 April strange sails were seen approaching the harbour . These were the ships of Suffren ' s squadron , who also intended to take on water and was equally as surprised to discover an enemy fleet . Taking advantage of the situation he quickly ran up to HMS " Isis " with his 74 - gun ships " Annibal " and " Héros " , and the 64 - gun " Artésien " , fired broadsides into her , and raised the French colours . Moored as he was Johnstone could not easily bring his remaining warships to engage the French , while his smaller ships were useless against the large French warships . In the smoke and confusion several of the transports fired into the East Indiaman . Recovering from their initial shock the British soon began to fight back effectively . Captain Ward of HMS " Hero " took men from nearby ships and used them to bring his ship into range of the French , whereupon he boarded the " Artésien " , killed her captain , Cardaillac , and took twenty - five of her men away as prisoners . After two hours of heavy cannonading the French found themselves in a dangerous position , as the " Annibal " lost her mizzen mast , followed shortly afterwards by her main and foremasts . She had by now sustained casualties of two hundred dead or wounded , and with the British preparing to board her , Suffren decided to retreat . He brought the " Héros " in to tow the " Annibal " to safety and made for the open sea , taking with him as prizes the East Indiamen " Hinchinbroke " and " Fortitude " , the fireship " Infernal " , and the storeship " Edward " . Johnstone immediately ordered a pursuit , but his heavily damaged ships took some time to get out of the harbour , by which time Suffren ' s fleet had disappeared . The British ships taken by Suffren were all recaptured over the next few days , as they were considered too badly damaged to be of use and were abandoned . Though Johnstone had successfully beaten off the superior French force , the race was now on for the Cape . Johnstone assumed that Suffren would either make for the West Indies or Brazil to refit and resupply , but was mistaken . Suffren simply rigged temporary masts on the " Annibal " and made for the Cape . Johnstone stayed at Porto Praya to carry out repairs , thus abandoning any chance of beating Suffren to his destination . Arrival at the Cape and Saldanha Bay . Johnstone ' s forces arrived at the Cape , where he sent HMS " Active " ahead to reconnoitre . " Active " found a Dutch merchant , the " Held Woltemande " , which had recently departed the Cape , and after fooling her into thinking she was a French frigate , captured her . From her Johnstone learnt that Suffren ' s forces had already reinforced the Cape , and that an attack would be futile . However he also learnt that a small convoy of richly laden Dutch merchants had been moved to the safety of Saldanha Bay . Johnstone decided to capture them , and on the morning of 21 July , arrived off the entrance to the bay . The Dutch squadron consisted of the " Dankbaarheid " , " Perel " , " Schoonkop " , " Hoogscarspel " and " Middleburg " , under the command of Captain Gerrit Harmeyer of the " Hoogscarspel " . Their stores and equipment had been stored on the packets " Zon " and " Snelheid " , which were sent further into the bay , near to Schapen Island . They had been given orders to burn their ships if attacked , while even if they were captured , the loss of their equipment on the " Zon " and " Snelheid " would make them useless . However the Dutch were largely unprepared , and only on the " Middleburg " had stores of combustible material been prepared . They cut their anchor cables and ran onshore , where their crews set fire to them , but the British were able to board them in their boats and extinguished the fires on all but the " Middleburg " , to which Johnstone personally attached a line to , repeating the success of his youth , and had towed away from the remaining Dutch ships . The five ships fell into British hands , as did the two packets , which were captured without any attempt being made to destroy them . After equipping his ships , Johnstone left the bay with his prizes , leaving only the " Zon " and " Snelheid " , which were considered too old to be of any use . Having failed in his objective to capture the Cape , Johnstone decided to send the troops and supplies on to the East Indies station , detaching his best warships under Captain James Alms of HMS " Monmouth " to escort them , while he returned to Britain with the ships " Romney " , " Jupiter " , " Diana " , " Jason " , " Terror " , " Infernal " , one light cruiser , two victuallers , and the Dutch prizes . He stopped on his voyage home at Lisbon , where he married Charlotte Dee , daughter of the British vice - consul , on 31 January 1782 . Aftermath and return to politics . Johnstone attempted to place much of the blame for his delay in chasing the French on a subordinate , Captain Evelyn Sutton of HMS " Isis " , and deprived him of his command and substantial prize money . Sutton was arrested and court - martialed , but acquitted . In response Sutton brought a suit against his former commander . Johnstone had to contest this suit , protracted by appeals , for the rest of his life , with it only being settled in his favour two days before his death . Johnstone was by now probably suffering from Hodgkin ' s disease , which may have been responsible for some of his lapses in judgement . He was elected as member of parliament for Lostwithiel in 1781 , and continued to be an active member , opposing American independence , and government interference in the running of the East India Company . He opposed Charles James Fox ' s proposals for tighter controls on the company , but in a move contrary to his earlier views , supported William Pitt the Younger ' s scheme . Pitt ' s was more moderate than Fox ' s , allowing the Company directors to retain power over company appointments , and Johnstone may have made a deal with Pitt to support this measure in exchange for Pitt ' s supporting Johnstone ' s bid to be elected to the directorship of the Company , which he achieved in 1784 . The two did not collaborate closely after this , and Pitt neither brought him into his government , nor offered him a pocket borough to represent in the 1784 general election . Johnstone instead attempted to win the seat of Haddington Burghs , but was defeated . He contested Ilchester the following year , but was again defeated . After a petition however his opponent John Harcourt was declared not to have been elected , and Johnstone was elected in his stead . By now in poor health Johnstone remained only a year in Parliament , before applying for Chiltern Hundreds in 1787 to resign his seat . Death and legacy . George Johnstone died at Hotwells , Bristol , possibly from Hodgkin ' s disease , on 24 May 1787 . He was survived by his wife Charlotte , by whom he had one son , John Lowther Johnstone . John later succeeded his uncle , Sir William Pulteney Johnstone , as 6th Baronet of Westerhall . George Johnstone had achieved small - scale success as a naval officer , serving with undoubted courage , but had not been able to succeed when given a major command . His poor strategic planning had led to his force being badly surprised at Porto Praya , and despite having rallied and successfully beaten off the French , his assumption that Suffren would not head immediately to the Cape proved his undoing and handed the French an important strategic victory . He achieved some successes as the founder of the colony of West Florida , despite ultimately failing to win the support of his political masters and the wider civil society , and would later rate his time in Florida more highly than his comparatively greater success as a director of the East India Company . He was a renowned orator when speaking in opposition , but was never asked to join an administration and several of the high - profile causes he supported ultimately failed . Notes . a . de la Motte was later uncovered , and tried for treason . Found guilty , he was executed at Tyburn on 27 July 1781 . b . The death of sitting MP Peregrine Cust on 2 January 1785 forced a by - election . Harcourt was declared duly elected by a majority of 17 votes when the polls closed after five days on 9 February ( 118 votes to 101 ) , but a petition led to an investigation that uncovered evidence of bribery and corruption . Harcourt was declared not to have been elected , and Johnstone took the seat in his stead .