James Wishart

Admiral Sir James Wishart

Born 1659
Died 1723
Nationality British
Known for Admiral and M.P.
Political party Tory

Admiral Sir James Wishart (1659 – 1723) was a British Admiral and Member of Parliament (MP) for Portsmouth[1] Wishart served at the Battle of Cadiz and the Battle of Vigo Bay in 1702[2] and at the Capture of Gibraltar.[3]

Biography

Wishart was born to the minister in Kinneil, Linlithgow in 1659. He was not the eldest son and he joined the Dutch navy and reputedly commanded a Dutch vessel.[4] His elder brother George became a baronet and a Lieutenant Colonel.[5] whilst his brother William Wishart became a Principal of Edinburgh University. Wishart returned to Great Britain with William of Orange and he was rewarded, as he became a captain of HMS Pearl in 1689 and later he moved to HMS Mary Galley.[4]

Wishart captained HMS Swiftsure[4] and became a favourite of Sir James Rooke after becoming his flag captain in 1695 on the recently renamed HMS Queen. He served at the Battle of Cadiz and the Battle of Vigo Bay in 1702[2] when there was a raid on Spanish silver.

In 1703-4 Wishart was with Sir George Rooke at the Capture of Gibraltar.[3] By 1704 Rooke was threatening to resign when he found out that William Whetstone who lacked Wishart's seniority had been promoted to rear-admiral of the blue in preference to his captain. Rooke suspected that Wishaw had been passed over either to slight him or because of Wishaw's Scottish ancestry. Rooke noted that Wishaw had recently moved to Yorkshire with his wife as way of mitigation of Jacobite leanings.[6] Rooke's protest resulted in Wishart also being promoted to rear-admiral of the blue and it was backdated to the same date as his competitor was promoted.[5]

Rooke and Wishart were in the Mediterranean later the same year and Wishart was given a knighthood on his return. The success was short-lived however as both Rooke and Wishart lost their positions the following year. Wishart was placed on half pay and it was not until 1710 that his career progressed further when he became an Admiralty Lord. He petitioned to become a Tory M.P. in 1711 after he was defeated in the Portsmouth election the previous year.[5]

Wishart was sent to The Hague where he unsuccessfully lobbied the Dutch to form an alliance against the French. His last naval role was as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean taking over from Sir John Jennings. Wishart was always suspected of being of a Jacobite persuasion. When George I of England became king, Wishart lost his line management role and he died childless on 30 May 1723. He was an Admiral of the White Squadron.[7]

Legacy

Wishart left a vast legacy of £20,000 which went first to his wife Cordelia.[4] Wishart's will stipulated that anyone who ever owned his land or money needed to take his surname. The money eventually went to his nephew William Wishart who was Principal at Edinburgh University in 1736 or 1737.[5] There is a memorial to Wishart, erected by his brother also William in the Church of St. Mary & St. Nicholas, Leatherhead. The memorial features a good biography and models of ships.[8]

He had his portrait painted by Michael Dahl.[3]

The Royal Navy has named one ship, the destroyer HMS Wishart (D67), after James Wishart; she was in commission from 1920 to 1945. Lord Louis Mountbatten was her commanding officer for a time, and when he was trying to inspire their crew he joked that the ship had the best name in the navy making the pun, "Our Father Wishart in Heaven..."[9]

References

  1. ↑ "HMS Wishart".
  2. 1 2 James Wishart, Europeana, accessed December 2012
  3. 1 2 3 Sir James Wishart, Michael Dahl, Royal Museums, Greenwich, accessed December 2012
  4. 1 2 3 4 J. D. Davies, ‘Wishart, Sir James (c.1659–1723)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 9 Dec 2012
  5. 1 2 3 4 James Wishart, Paula Watson, HistoryOfParliament.org, accessed December 2012
  6. ↑ William Whetstone at the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, accessed December 2012
  7. ↑ McArthur, John (2010). Clarke, James Stanier, ed. The Naval Chronicle Vol 27 Containing a General and Biographical History of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom With a Variety of Original Papers on Nautical Subjects. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ Pr. pp. 177–352. ISBN 9781108018661.
  8. ↑ Brayley, Edward Wedlake (1850). A topographical history of Surrey: the geological section by Gedeon Mantell. p. 438 onwards. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
  9. ↑ Terraine, John. The Life and Times of Lord Mountbatten. p. 1931. ISBN 1448211301.
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