Thomas Pye Sir Thomas Pye ( c . 1708 / 9 – 26 December 1785 ) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the War of the Austrian Succession , the Seven Years ' War , and the American War of Independence . He was briefly Member of Parliament for Rochester , and served as commander of several of the navy ' s principal stations and ports . Born into a family with powerful political connections , Pye used these to rise rapidly through the ranks , and to receive employments in periods of peace . He commanded a number of ships during the War of the Austrian Succession , and was appointed commander - in - chief in the Leeward Islands , but a fit of temper when he was superseded almost cost him his career . Charged with disobeying orders and other infractions , Pye returned to Britain , where he was able to use his connections , and the absence of the experienced naval officers , to ensure a lenient outcome to his court martial . Despite this he remained unemployed during the Seven Years ' War , though he reached flag rank . Pye did not receive active postings until the end of the Seven Years ' War , when he commanded several of the navy ' s dockyards , and even returned to the Leeward Islands to take up his old post . A brief foray into politics proved lacklustre , he made no impact in parliament , and alienated his constituents . His position as commander - in - chief at Portsmouth during the American War of Independence brought the opportunity for rewards . The fleet was reviewed by the King , and Pye received promotion and a knighthood . He retired after the end of the war and died two years later . He had conducted a long - running affair with the novelist Anna Maria Bennett , and left two children by her , including a daughter who became the famous actress Harriet Pye Bennett . Family and early life . Thomas Pye was born c . 1708 / 9 , the second son of Henry Pye of Faringdon House in Berkshire ( now Oxfordshire ) and his wife , Anne , daughter of Sir Benjamin Bathurst of Cirencester in Gloucestershire . He was the great grandson of Robert Pye , the parliamentarian , and was uncle of Henry James Pye , the poet laureate . Through his mother , Pye was related to Allen Bathurst , 1st Earl Bathurst , a powerful politician who would use his influence to speed Pye ' s rise through the ranks . Pye passed his lieutenant ' s examination on 12 June 1734 and joined the 48 - gun HMS " Preston " , under Captain Charles Cotterell , on 18 April 1735 as her third lieutenant . His service was initially spent off the British coast , until transferring to the 60 - gun , still under Cotterell , and moving to the Tagus . He was then aboard the 60 - gun , serving in the Mediterranean , before being promoted to his first command , that of the 24 - gun , on 13 April 1741 . First commands . He spent the rest of the year being stationed in British waters , after which he joined Admiral Thomas Mathews ' s fleet , and returned to the Mediterranean . Mathews sent Pye into the Adriatic Sea to disrupt supplies being sent to the Spanish Army in Italy during the War of the Austrian Succession . Pye was then appointed by Mathews to command the 80 - gun in August 1744 , and he remained in the Mediterranean after Mathews ' s recall , serving under Vice - Admiral Henry Medley and providing support to the Austrian army off the south of France . Pye returned to England in March 1748 , and though the signing of the Treaty of Aix - la - Chapelle in October that year ended the war , he was able to use his connections to secure peacetime employment . He commanded first the 50 - gun , which he took out to North America , and then the 44 - gun , which he commissioned in April 1749 and sailed to the west coast of Africa . He took the 44 - gun out to Nova Scotia in June 1751 , returning to Britain later that year , before being appointed to the 50 - gun in February 1752 to become commander - in - chief in the Leeward Islands . Disobeying orders and court martial . Pye was commander of the station until his replacement , Commodore Thomas Frankland , arrived to supersede him in October 1755 . Pye , reportedly angry at this , refused to strike his broad pennant , upon which Frankland reprimanded him for disobeying a superior officer . Frankland brought various other charges against Pye , accusing him of ' financial irregularities , interfering with the purchase of naval stores . . . ' , and with having damaged " Advice " by ' . . . removing parts of her timbers for an unnecessary survey . ' Claiming that he would not be able to receive a fair hearing in the Caribbean , Pye instead returned to Britain , causing a bureaucratic quandary as since he should have been tried there , the Admiralty officials for a time did nothing . They eventually convened a court martial from 1 to 4 March 1748 , but the senior naval officers at the time , Lord Anson and Edward Boscawen were at sea and could not be present . Pye used his political connections again to his advantage , putting pressure on the civilian members of the board , and while he was duly reprimanded for the lesser charges Frankland brought , he was not charged with disobeying his superior . Flag rank . Pye was promoted according to his seniority to rear - admiral on 5 July 1758 , but received no active employment during the Seven Years ' War . He became commander - in - chief at Plymouth in June 1763 during the subsequent peace , and was promoted to vice - admiral on 21 October that year . He returned to his old post as commander - in - chief of the Leeward Islands between 1766 and 1769 , at first with the 32 - gun as his flagship , followed by the 50 - gun . Pye briefly entered politics on returning to Britain , being elected to parliament as Member for Rochester on 9 May 1771 . No records exist of him ever speaking in the House of Commons , and he was defeated at the next general election , on 7 October 1774 , having apparently alienated his constituents . Pye became commander - in - chief at Portsmouth on 9 May 1771 , a post he held for most of the American War of Independence in two periods of office . During the first he oversaw the fleet during King George III ' s review at Spithead on 22 June 1773 . As a reward for his services Pye was knighted by the King on the deck of the Portsmouth guardship , the 98 - gun , on 24 June 1773 . At the same time the King ordered Pye promoted to admiral . Pye was replaced as commander - in - chief at Portsmouth on 18 May 1774 , being succeeded by Sir James Douglas , but resumed the command on 27 May 1777 . Keppel ' s court martial . In his capacity as senior admiral he was president at the court martial of Admiral Augustus Keppel , which was held at Portsmouth in January 1779 . He tried to avoid the duty , pleading poor health , but was compelled to take part . Keppel was being investigated for his actions during the Battle of Ushant , which had taken place on 27 July 1778 . His subordinate , Admiral Hugh Palliser had brought charges of misconduct and neglect of duty , which the court was compelled to examine . The court was convened aboard on 7 January , though the rest of the hearings were held at the house of the governor of the garrison . After deliberations , the court returned its verdict on 11 February , unanimously acquitting Keppel , with Pye returning his sword with the observation that ' . . . you will be called forth by your Sovereign to draw it once more in the defence of your country . ' Later life and family . Pye was made lieutenant - general of marines on 26 September 1780 . He stepped down after the end of the American War of Independence , leaving his post as commander - in - chief at Portsmouth on 31 March 1783 , and going into retirement . He died two years later , at his home on Suffolk Street , London , on 26 December 1785 . He was survived by his daughter Mary . His wife had died in 1762 , and for seventeen years he had carried out an affair with the novelist Anna Maria Bennett , the wife of Thomas Bennett , a customs officer . Thomas Bennett appears to have owed Pye a sizeable sum of money , which Pye forgave in his will , bequeathing his London residence to Anna Maria . Pye and Bennett appear to have at least two children together , Thomas Pye Bennet , and Harriet Pye Bennett , who went on to become a famous actress . Assessment . Pye ' s career was advanced through his political connections , rather than talent . His temper nearly cost him his career , while he managed to make himself so unpopular with his constituents while MP for Rochester that Philip Stephens , the Secretary to the Admiralty , wrote to Lord Hardwicke saying that the voters ‘ had conceived an utter aversion to our Admiral Sir Thomas Pye , and I find they would have taken anybody who offered himself in preference to him ’ . He was known to junior officers as ' Goose Pye ' , while naval historian Nicholas Rodger described him as ‘ something of a naval grotesque who aroused mingled amusement and contempt ’ . Pye acknowledged his difficulty expressing himself , writing that ' I had the mortification to be neglected in my education , went to sea at 14 without any , and a man of war was my university . ' His biographer Roger Knight described him as ' not a typical mid - eighteenth - century naval officer . ' Notes . a . Sitting with Pye on the court were Vice - Admiral Matthew Buckle ( who withdrew after six days due to illness ) , Vice - Admiral John Montagu , Rear - Admirals Mariot Arbuthnot and Robert Roddam , and Captains Mark Milbanke , Francis Samuel Drake , Taylor Penny , John Moutray , William Bennet , Adam Duncan , Philip Boteler and James Cranston . b . The two met while Anna Maria was working in a chandler ' s shop . She subsequently became Pye ' s housekeeper and mistress .