George St Lo George St Lo ( sometimes written as St Loe ; 19 April 1655 – 20 September 1718 ) was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the Nine Years ' War , and the War of the Spanish Succession . His career cut short by injuries , he embarked on a political career , holding offices as a commissioner of the navy and was a Member of Parliament . St Lo entered on a naval career , and after service in the Mediterranean on several ships , rose to the rank of captain with his own commands . Controversy occasionally followed his career , such as an investigation on murder charges while a lieutenant . He supported the Glorious Revolution in 1688 , claiming to have had an important part in its success . His active seagoing career came to an end after 1689 , when his ship was captured by French warship and St Lo was wounded . After time in France as a prisoner of war , he returned to England and took up various political positions , while writing about his observations and thoughts on naval administration . Holding administrative posts , and serving as commissioner for some of the dockyards , he was also an extra commissioner for the navy . As commissioner at Plymouth he had an important role in supporting the construction of the first Eddystone Lighthouse , but when he sent the project ' s guardship away , the crew and the architect , Henry Winstanley , were promptly captured by a French privateer . Though the men were eventually released , perhaps by the personal intervention of Louis XIV of France , St Lo was reprimanded . St Lo entered parliamentary politics in 1701 , sitting for the constituency of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis . He supported the Tory interest , until his defeat in 1705 . He continued his administrative career until the accession of King George I in 1716 , and was left unemployed in the subsequent redistribution of posts . He died two years later . Family and early life . St Lo was born on 19 April 1655 , the fourth son of John St Lo of Little Fontmel , Dorset . His mother was Margaret , " née " Fawconer , the daughter of William Fawconer of Salisbury . George ' s grandfather was Edward St Lo , of Knighton , Wiltshire . George ' s family gave him important political connections , as he descended on his father ' s side from the Hyde family . His great - grandmother Elizabeth was the granddaughter of Laurence Hyde , of Hatch , Wiltshire , who was the grandfather of Edward Hyde , 1st Earl of Clarendon . St Lo ' s parentage brought him the important patronage of Laurence Hyde , 1st Earl of Rochester , which aided his rise through the navy . St Lo entered the navy and after a period of service , was appointed as lieutenant of on 16 January 1678 , serving in the Mediterranean in operations against the Barbary States . The commander in the Mediterranean , Admiral Arthur Herbert , moved St Lo into the 46 - gun under Captain Sir George Rooke , but while serving on her in May 1681 , he found himself accused , with another officer , of having committed a murder in Tangier . The matter was investigated , with St Lo acquitted in September 1682 . His career does not appear to have suffered unduly by the accusation , as he was promoted to captain on 11 April 1682 , and given command of the 50 - gun . St Lo remained with " Dartmouth " for the next six years , recommissioning her in March 1685 . He went out to the West Indies in 1686 , and while there clashed with the acting governor of the Leeward Islands , Sir James Russell . Russell had been profiting from the widespread piracy going on in the Caribbean waters , causing St Lo to criticize this as an abuse of his authority . His next command was the 46 - gun , which he took over on 30 August 1688 . The " Portsmouth " was attached to the fleet under Admiral George Legge , 1st Baron Dartmouth , based in the River Medway during the events of the Glorious Revolution . Legge failed to intercept the fleet bringing William of Orange to Britain , with St Lo later declaring himself an avowed supporter of the new regime . He wrote that he was so true a friend to the Revolution . . . that ( at the peril of his life ) he brought the Prince of Orange ’ s Declaration into the fleet then in the Downes . . . notwithstanding it had been declared that whoever brought the same should be tried for sedition . After this the officers of the fleet came to a resolution not to fight the Dutch and subscriptions were taken to that purpose which were carried to the Prince of Orange . Later career . French capture and pamphlets . St Lo ' s support for the Orangists secured his career , and he remained in command of " Portsmouth " after the revolution . He was present at the Battle of Bantry Bay on 1 May 1689 , but while in the English Channel in August 1689 , " Portsmouth " was attacked by the 58 - gun French ship " Marquis " , and was captured . St Lo was severely injured in the seven - hour long engagement , and was taken prisoner . The French took him to Brest , and then to Nantes , as a prisoner of war . St Lo spent the next two years a prisoner , a period he later claimed cost him £500 in expenses . He was paid £100 from the royal bounty , and his wife made a petition for him to be exchanged on 11 January 1691 . His time spent in Brest and Nantes was put to good use in observing the French naval system , and in 1693 he published the pamphlet " England ' s Safety , or a Bridle to the French King " , based on his observations . Impressed by the speed of French naval preparations , he wrote that " while [ I ] was at Brest , I was astonished by the expedition used by the French in manning and fitting out their ships , which , till then , I thought could be done no where sooner than in England , where we have ten times the shipping , and consequently ten times more seamen than they have in France . But there I saw twenty sail of ships , of about sixty guns each , got ready in twenty days time : they were brought in , and the men discharged ; and upon an order from Paris they were careened , keeled up , rigged , victualled , manned , and out again in the said time , with the greatest ease imaginable . I likewise saw one ship , of one hundred guns , had all her guns taken out there in four or five hours time , which I never saw done in England in twenty - four hours , and this with great ease and less hazard . " St Lo was back in England by September 1692 , as in this month he presented to the Privy Council proposals for raising 20 , 000 seamen for the navy without having to resort to impressment . St Lo proposed that merchants be required to register their ships . For every 50 tuns , the merchant should provide one seaman for the navy , or else be liable to pay a £5 volunteering bounty . He followed this up with second pamphlet , published in 1694 , " England ' s Interest , or , A Discipline for Seamen " , in which he further propounded his views on the manning of the navy . Administrative posts . St Lo ' s wounds sustained in the battle appear to have put an end to his service at sea . He was offered the post of governor of New York , but declined in January 1693 on the grounds of the " indisposition occasioned by his wound " . Instead on 8 January 1693 he was appointed a commissioner of prizes . The appointment was short - lived , he relinquished it on 23 January , and on 24 June 1693 he was appointed to sit on the Navy Board as an extra commissioner of the navy . His posting here was delayed for two months though as an investigation was taking place into alleged abuses during his time as a prize commissioner , for which he was eventually acquitted . An appointment as resident - commissioner at Plymouth followed in 1695 , and in 1697 he received orders to assist in the building of the first Eddystone Lighthouse , to the design drawn up by Henry Winstanley . St Lo was required to provide protection for the workers on the exposed rock , and he assigned the 26 - gun to this task . In June however he took the " Terrible " from her duties to join the fleet , and failed to provide a replacement . A French privateer happened upon the undefended rock , and promptly took the workers , and Winstanley , captive , and transported them to France . Word of Winstanley ' s capture is supposed to have reached King Louis XIV , who ordered his release with the comment " France is at war with England , not with humanity . " St Lo received a sharp reprimand from the Navy Board for this turn of events , for having neglected their orders to him . Despite these events he sent various proposals to the House of Lords on the subject of improving naval administration . He submitted a paper to the committee on a shipbuilding bill in April 1694 , and gave evidence concerning naval maladministration in March 1695 . Commenting on the difficulties of preventing smuggling in England ' s Caribbean possessions , he wrote " Most of Our Islands , but especially Antegua and St . Christopher have so many bays & places where they may put on board Sugars , yet it is impossible for ye Custom house Officers ( tho ever so careful ) to prevent " . St Lo suggested that " two or three Small vessels [ with ] good sailors [ should be sent ] to cruise up & down , [ and ] examine all Sloops & Boates passing to & fro . " Parliamentary career . St Lo ' s interest in politics began prior to 1698 , when he stood as a candidate for the constituency of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis . He was defeated that year , and again when he stood at the January 1701 election . He was successful however in the November 1701 election , where he went on to represent Tory interests . He approved the motion on 26 February 1702 , vindicating the impeachments of King William ' s Whig ministers , and on 13 February 1703 opposed the Lords ' amendments to the bill for enlarging the time for taking the oath of abjuration . St Lo was listed as a placeman in 1705 , and on being defeated at the election that year , retired from parliamentary politics . Later administrative duties . St Lo had been appointed an equerry to Prince George of Denmark by 1700 , a post he held until c . 1704 , and in 1703 moved from Plymouth to Chatham , still serving as a resident commissioner . While at Chatham he took an interest in dry docks and designed a prototype entrance caisson for the yard . Keenly interested in efficiency , he was outspoken in his desire for reform , leading to a description of him as " one of the most forceful if not to say irregular , of the outstation commissioners " . He was at times combative with his superiors , being reprimanded by the Navy Board on 4 October 1699 for expressing himself " in such a manner as inferior officers ought not to do towards their superiors " . Another reprimand came after his move from Plymouth to Chatham , for taking with him both the new dockyard yacht , , and items of official correspondence . His assertive nature was further illustrated in an incident when he confronted striking dockyard workers at Chatham with a drawn sword , and chased them from the yard . While living at Chatham he ordered the dockyard ' s commissioner ' s house to be rebuilt . St Lo was commissioner at Chatham until the post was abolished on 21 October 1712 , on the justification of " for easing the public charge " . Instead he was appointed commander - in - chief of all ships in the Medway and at the Nore . The accession of King George I in 1714 caused him to be superseded , and on 16 November that year he ceased to be on the Navy Board as well . He entered retirement and saw no further service or employment . Family and legacy . St Lo married Elizabeth Cheffinch , the daughter of Amphilis Cheffinch of St Martin - in - the - Fields , Westminster , on 26 March 1682 . They had one son , John , and two daughters , Elizabeth and Mary . George St Lo died in retirement at Northfleet on 20 September 1718 . His will , dated 4 October 1716 , was proved on 8 October 1718 , and he was buried in Northfleet . His nephew , Edward St Lo , followed his uncle in a naval career , rising to the rank of rear - admiral , before succumbing to disease during the War of the Austrian Succession . Notes . a . A slight disagreement exists between Laughton ' s biography in the " Dictionary of National Biography " , and Watson ' s in " The History of Parliament " . Watson writes that St Lo was not promoted to captain until 1688 , although his summary of achievements in the same source notes that he was a captain in 1682 . b . Laughton writes that this took place in 1690 . Watson writes August 1689 . J . J . Colledge ' s " Ships of the Royal Navy " confirms that " Portsmouth " was taken in August 1689 , and subsequently blew up . c . Watson mentions only one daughter and one son . Laughton names two daughters , plus his son John , but goes on to speculate that Edward St Lo appears to have been another son , who was not mentioned in the will . Watson instead notes that Edward was George ' s nephew .