George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard
Encyclopedia
George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard PC
(October 21, 1685–1765) was an Anglo-Irish naval commander and diplomat.
. His grandfather, Arthur Forbes
, first earl, died when young Forbes was about twelve years of age. Coming to London with his grandmother in 1702, he introduced himself to Admiral George Churchill, then first of the council to the lord high admiral
, Prince George of Denmark
, and sought to enter the navy.
Churchill eventually appointed him to the Royal Anne
at Portsmouth
, and got him a lieutenancy in one of the new marine regiments. Young Forbes was midshipman
on HMS St George
in 1704, and served under George Rooke
at the capture of Gibraltar
(→ History of Gibraltar
), where he was employed on shore as aide-de-camp to the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt
, and in the great sea-fight off Malaga which followed. The same year he became heir to the earldom on the death of his elder brother, Lord Forbes, a captain in the Scots royals, from wounds received at Blenheim (Treas. Papers, xciii. 72, Blenheim Roll; → Battle of Blenheim
).
In 1705, he was second lieutenant of the Triton frigate, one of the most active cruisers in the navy, which captured twenty-three French privateers in the Channel
alone in fifteen months. He was in her at the siege of Ostend in 1706, where he served on shore, and first became known to his future friend, the Duke of Argyll
, who commanded in the trenches. On returning home Forbes found his commission awaiting him as captain of the Lynn frigate, in which he served as convoy to the Baltic Sea
trade. The Lynn being ordered to the West Indies, Forbes was transferred to the Gosport, and on 3 January 1707 to the Leopard
of 50 guns. On 6 March 1707, he was appointed brigadier in the 4th troop of horse-guards, of which the Duke of Argyll was captain and colonel.
The brigadiers of the horse-guards—styled in their commissions ‘corporals,’ and in society ‘captains’—were commissioned officers ranking with lieutenants of horse (CANNON, Hist. Rec. Life Guards, p. 169). Forbes did duty with his troop until appointed to command the Sunderland
of 60 guns, part of the western squadron under Lord Dursley
, afterwards third Earl Berkeley.
In 1708, Forbes became exempt of his troop and a brother of the Trinity House
. In May 1709, he left his ship to do duty with his troop at Windsor, where ‘his sprightliness of genius and politeness of manner recommended him to Queen Anne’ (Memoirs of the Earls of Granard, p. 86), at whose desire he was appointed to the Grafton
of 70 guns. Forbes, who in the meantime had married, sailed for the Mediterranean with Sir John Norris
in 1710. Charles III
of Spain (afterwards the emperor Charles VI) then had his court at Barcelona
, and Norris stationed some ships off the coast of Catalonia
, the command of which was assigned to Forbes, who was directed to co-operate as much as possible with the Spanish court, and was permitted to reside on shore. Two Genoese ships of war, of 50 and 70 guns respectively, were at Cadiz
taking in specie, alleged to be for the use of the French faction in Italy.
The Spanish king proposed that Forbes should put out to sea and seize the vessels on their return voyage. Forbes explained that England was at peace with the Genoese republic; but being pressed by the king, and the queen offering him her sign-manual for his indemnification, he started with his own ship, the Grafton of 70 guns, and the Chatham
of 50 guns, Captain Nicholas Haddock
, took the Genoese ships into Port Mahon
, discharged the officers and crews to shore, landed the specie, amounting to 1,600,000 dollars, and returned with the ships to Barcelona. Charles III, greatly pleased, made Forbes a grant of the duty payable at the mint for coinage of the amount, and urged him to go back to Minorca
and fetch the specie.
Forbes, doubting the legality of the capture, excused himself until he should receive instructions from home, or from General Stanhope
, the British ambassador and commander-in-chief in Spain, and, to avoid any appearance of backwardness, set out to confer with Stanhope. He joined the part of the allied army under Marshal Staremberg
, and was slightly wounded while charging with Brigadier Lepell's regiment at the battle of Villaviciosa
, 10 December 1710. Stanhope had surrendered at Brihuega
the day previous. Forbes returned to Barcelona, and found orders from home forbidding the disposal of the Genoese treasure, which sorely disconcerted the Spanish court. Forbes came to England bearing an autograph letter from Charles III to Queen Anne
. Eventually, the British government decided to retain the capture and indemnify the Genoese republic. In the end Forbes accepted 6,000 £ in lieu of what had promised to prove a large fortune. Full details of the transaction are given in Memoirs of the Earls of Granard, pp. 87–93.
In January 1711, the Duke of Argyll was appointed to the command in Spain. He set out in the spring, leaving Forbes, who was to serve with him, in London
to solicit supplies for the army, which was short of money. Forbes obtained an order for eight hundred thousand dollars of the Genoese treasure, and set off, riding through Holland, Germany
, the Tyrol
, and Italy
to Genoa
, where he took ship, with such despatch that he reached Barcelona in twenty-one days from England. He served with the army in Spain during that year, at the head of three hundred cavalrymen drafted from home, whom Argyll purposed to form into a new regiment of horse under Forbes's command. The regiment was never completed, as peace negotiations were too far advanced. A return of the army in Spain, dated 19 February 1712, is in Treasury Papers, cxliv. 23, and is the only paper of any interest entered under Forbes's name in the Calendars of State Papers for the period.
In 1712, Forbes was appointed to the Greenwich
of 50 guns, and became cornet
and major
in his troop of horse-guards. After the peace of Utrecht
he commanded a small squadron of vessels in the Mediterranean, and took up his residence with his wife and child in Minorca, whence he returned home in 1716. The year after he was appointed lieutenant-governor of the castle of St. Phillipa, Minorca, and acted as governor of the island during the brief hostilities with Spain
in 1718. He introduced better order in the island, and abolished the trials for witchcraft, which had been a source of much misery.
On his return home in 1719, Forbes, at the desire of George I
, proceeded to Vienna
, to carry into effect a long-cherished project of the emperor Charles VI, of forming a naval power either in Naples and Sicily or on the Adriatic, for which purpose Forbes received the rank of vice-admiral in the imperial service with a salary of twelve thousand florins a year, and unlimited powers of organisation. But the imperialist ministers looked coldly on the scheme, and adopted a policy of tacit obstruction, which at the end of two years led Forbes to resign his appointment in private audience with the emperor, who presented him with a valuable diamond ring in recognition of his services. Forbes joined the king at Hanover, and afterwards returned home.
In 1724 he was appointed to command the Canterbury
of 60 guns on the Mediterranean station, and was employed on shore at the defence of Gibraltar against the Spaniards in 1726–7. In September 1727 Forbes, who had previously sat in the English House of Commons
for the borough of Queenborough
, was called to the Irish house of peers under the title of Baron Forbes.
In 1729, he was appointed governor and captain-general of the Leeward Islands
, a post he resigned at the end of a year. In 1730, he proposed to the government to lead a colony to Lake Erie
, where it would form a barrier against French encroachments from Canada
. He was to be fettered by ‘no restrictions beyond the ten commandments,’ and was to have an annual grant of 12,000 £ for the use of the colony for seven years. If the government at the end of that time was satisfied to take over the settlement, Forbes was to be created an English peer, with a perpetual pension of 1,000 £ a year out of the revenues of the post office. If the government were not satisfied to take over the colony, a grant of the sum was to be made to Forbes and his heirs, with a palatinate jurisdiction, similar to that of Lord Baltimore in Maryland, in which case Forbes was to repay the 84,000 £ advanced, and pledged his family estates as security for the amount. Sir Robert Walpole
, who disliked Forbes as being ‘too busy and curious,’ admitted the fairness of the terms, but the project was not carried out. In 1731 Forbes was appointed to the Cornwall
of 80 guns, and commanded that ship in the Mediterranean under Sir Charles Wager
. This was the last time he served afloat.
In 1733 Forbes was appointed envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Empress Anna of Russia
. He negotiated and concluded a treaty — the first entered into by the court of St. Petersburg with any European state — for the better regulation of the customs, and for favouring the introduction of British woollen goods. After his return to England in 1734 the czarina, with whom he was a favourite, offered him supreme command of the imperial Russian navy, which he declined. He obtained his flag rank and succeeded to the title of Earl of Granard
on the death of his father the same year.
In 1737, Granard, who was a member of the Irish Linen Company, and took much interest in political economy, was instrumental in introducing improvements in the Irish currency. The details will be found in Memoirs of the Earls of Granard, pp. 145–51. When the popular outcry against Spain arose in 1739, he was offered the command of ‘a stout squadron’ for the West Indies, but declined, believing the ministry not to be in earnest; nevertheless when his senior, Admiral Edward Vernon
, who had been laid aside, was brought back over his head and sent out, Granard considered himself superseded, and refused to serve again. His name was retained on the flag list, and half-pay was issued for him for some time, but on 31 December 1742 his resignation was finally accepted.
The statement of some biographers that he continued in the service, and was senior admiral at his death, arose from confusing Granard — who was better known in the naval service as Lord Forbes — with his son, Admiral of the Fleet the Hon. John Forbes
. Granard had retired from the army more than twenty years before he left the sister service. He had been in treaty with Lord Dundonald for the command of the 4th troop of horse-guards, for which he was to give 10,000 £, but broke off the negotiations at the wish of the Duke of Argyll, who desired to see him rise to the head of the navy. By Argyll's interest Granard was returned to the House of Commons for the Scottish burghs of Ayr, Irvine, etc.
, in 1741, and took a very active part in the stormy discussions which drove Sir Robert Walpole from office on 3 February 1742, in consequence of which he was appointed one of the committee of inquiry into the conduct of the ex-minister. But he subsequently separated from his colleagues in disgust, and retired from public life.
He was made a privy councillor of Ireland, and held the governments of Westmeath and Longford
. He died in Ireland in 1765.
There is some uncertainty as to the day of his death, two different dates being given in Memoirs of the Earls of Granard, and other dates, all within the year, being given in other publications (see Notes and Queries, 6th ser. x. 312; also Ann. Reg., Gent. Mag., and Scots Mag. 1765).
In person Granard was of middle height and spare figure, with a dark complexion, and strongly marked features. In his habits he was very active and extremely abstemious, eating little and drinking nothing but water, customs to which he attributed his good health. He was a great reader, with a very retentive memory, and a quick, intelligent observer. The family manuscripts contain several treatises by him on subjects connected with political economy, geography, and the naval resources of different countries (Hist. MSS. Comm. 2nd Rep. 212).
Granard (then Lord Forbes) married in 1709 Mary, eldest daughter of Sir William Stewart, first earl of Mountjoy, and widow of Phineas Preston of Ardsallagh, co. Meath, by whom she had had two children (see Mervyn Archdall, Peerage of Ireland, vi. 153). By this lady, who died 4 Oct. 1755, he had three children: George, fourth earl of Granard, who saw a good deal of army service in the Mediterranean in his earlier years, raised the old 76th foot, which was disbanded in 1763, and died a major-general and colonel 29th foot in 1769; John (1714–1796); and a daughter.
Privy Council of Ireland
The Privy Council of Ireland was an institution of the Kingdom of Ireland until 31 December 1800 and of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801-1922...
(October 21, 1685–1765) was an Anglo-Irish naval commander and diplomat.
Life
He was the son of Arthur Forbes, 2nd Earl of Granard, by his wife Mary, daughter of Sir George Rawdon, 1st Baronet, of Moira, county Down, was born in Ireland 21 October 1685, and was for a time at the grammar school at DroghedaDrogheda
Drogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 56 km north of Dublin. It is the last bridging point on the River Boyne before it enters the Irish Sea....
. His grandfather, Arthur Forbes
Arthur Forbes, 1st Earl of Granard
-Early life:He was the eldest son of Sir Arthur Forbes of Corse in Aberdeenshire; who went to Ireland in 1620 with the Master of Forbes's regiment, of which he was lieutenant-colonel, and was granted large estates in Leitrim and Longford by James I. His mother was Jane, daughter of Sir Robert...
, first earl, died when young Forbes was about twelve years of age. Coming to London with his grandmother in 1702, he introduced himself to Admiral George Churchill, then first of the council to the lord high admiral
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
, Prince George of Denmark
George of Denmark
Prince George of Denmark and Norway, Duke of Cumberland was the husband of Anne, Queen of Great Britain.His marriage to Anne was arranged in the early 1680s with a view to developing an Anglo-Danish alliance to contain Dutch maritime power. As a result, George was unpopular with his Dutch...
, and sought to enter the navy.
Churchill eventually appointed him to the Royal Anne
HMS St Andrew (1670)
HMS St Andrew was a 96-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Woolwich Dockyard by Christopher Pett until his death in March 1668, and then completed by Jonas Shish, and launched in 1670....
at Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, and got him a lieutenancy in one of the new marine regiments. Young Forbes was midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
on HMS St George
HMS Charles (1668)
HMS Charles was 96-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Christopher Pett at Deptford Dockyard until his death in March 1668, then completed by Jonas Shish after being launched in the same month. Her name was formally Charles the Second, but she was known simply as Charles,...
in 1704, and served under George Rooke
George Rooke
Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Rooke was an English naval commander. He is known for his service in the wars against France and particularly remembered today for his victory at Vigo Bay and for capturing Gibraltar for the British in 1704.-Early life:Rooke was born at St Lawrence, near Canterbury...
at the capture of Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
(→ History of Gibraltar
History of Gibraltar
The history of Gibraltar portrays how The Rock gained an importance and a reputation far exceeding its size, influencing and shaping the people who came to reside here over the centuries.-Prehistoric:...
), where he was employed on shore as aide-de-camp to the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt
Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt
Prince George Louis of Hesse-Darmstadt was a Field Marshal in the Austrian army. He is known for his career in Habsburg Spain, as Viceroy of Catalonia , head of the Austrian army in the War of Spanish Succession and governor of Gibraltar in 1704...
, and in the great sea-fight off Malaga which followed. The same year he became heir to the earldom on the death of his elder brother, Lord Forbes, a captain in the Scots royals, from wounds received at Blenheim (Treas. Papers, xciii. 72, Blenheim Roll; → Battle of Blenheim
Battle of Blenheim
The Battle of Blenheim , fought on 13 August 1704, was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV of France sought to knock Emperor Leopold out of the war by seizing Vienna, the Habsburg capital, and gain a favourable peace settlement...
).
In 1705, he was second lieutenant of the Triton frigate, one of the most active cruisers in the navy, which captured twenty-three French privateers in the Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
alone in fifteen months. He was in her at the siege of Ostend in 1706, where he served on shore, and first became known to his future friend, the Duke of Argyll
John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll
Field Marshal John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, 1st Duke of Greenwich KG , known as Iain Ruaidh nan Cath or Red John of the Battles, was a Scottish soldier and nobleman.-Early Life:...
, who commanded in the trenches. On returning home Forbes found his commission awaiting him as captain of the Lynn frigate, in which he served as convoy to the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
trade. The Lynn being ordered to the West Indies, Forbes was transferred to the Gosport, and on 3 January 1707 to the Leopard
HMS Leopard (1703)
HMS Leopard was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Rotherhithe and launched on 15 March 1703.Leopard underwent a rebuild according to the 1719 Establishment at Woolwich, and was relaunched on 18 April 1721. Leopard served until 1739, when she was broken up....
of 50 guns. On 6 March 1707, he was appointed brigadier in the 4th troop of horse-guards, of which the Duke of Argyll was captain and colonel.
The brigadiers of the horse-guards—styled in their commissions ‘corporals,’ and in society ‘captains’—were commissioned officers ranking with lieutenants of horse (CANNON, Hist. Rec. Life Guards, p. 169). Forbes did duty with his troop until appointed to command the Sunderland
HMS Sunderland (1694)
HMS Sunderland was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Southampton on 17 March 1694.Sunderland was hulked in 1715, and sunk as part of the foundation of a breakwater in 1737....
of 60 guns, part of the western squadron under Lord Dursley
James Berkeley, 3rd Earl of Berkeley
Vice-Admiral James Berkeley, 3rd Earl of Berkeley KG, PC was the son of Charles Berkeley, 2nd Earl of Berkeley and the Hon. Elizabeth Noel. He was known by the courtesy title of Viscount Dursley prior to succeeding as Earl of Berkeley in 1710...
, afterwards third Earl Berkeley.
In 1708, Forbes became exempt of his troop and a brother of the Trinity House
Trinity House
The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond is the official General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales and other British territorial waters...
. In May 1709, he left his ship to do duty with his troop at Windsor, where ‘his sprightliness of genius and politeness of manner recommended him to Queen Anne’ (Memoirs of the Earls of Granard, p. 86), at whose desire he was appointed to the Grafton
HMS Grafton (1709)
HMS Grafton was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built by Swallow and Fowler, of Limehouse, London to the dimensions of the 1706 Establishment, and was launched on 9 August 1709....
of 70 guns. Forbes, who in the meantime had married, sailed for the Mediterranean with Sir John Norris
John Norris (admiral)
Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Norris was a British naval officer of the 17th and 18th centuries, who served as Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Navy under George II.-Early career:...
in 1710. Charles III
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...
of Spain (afterwards the emperor Charles VI) then had his court at Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, and Norris stationed some ships off the coast of Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, the command of which was assigned to Forbes, who was directed to co-operate as much as possible with the Spanish court, and was permitted to reside on shore. Two Genoese ships of war, of 50 and 70 guns respectively, were at Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
taking in specie, alleged to be for the use of the French faction in Italy.
The Spanish king proposed that Forbes should put out to sea and seize the vessels on their return voyage. Forbes explained that England was at peace with the Genoese republic; but being pressed by the king, and the queen offering him her sign-manual for his indemnification, he started with his own ship, the Grafton of 70 guns, and the Chatham
HMS Chatham (1691)
HMS Chatham was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 20 October 1691 at Chatham Dockyard.In 1705 she captured the French 60-gun Third Rate Auguste built in Brest in 1704. The British took her into service as Auguste.She underwent a rebuild according to the 1719...
of 50 guns, Captain Nicholas Haddock
Nicholas Haddock
Nicholas Haddock was an admiral in the British Royal Navy and a Member of Parliament .Haddock, the second son of Admiral Sir Richard Haddock, was destined for a naval career from childhood and first distinguished himself at the age of 16 as a midshipman at the Battle of Vigo in 1702...
, took the Genoese ships into Port Mahon
Mahon
Mahón is a municipality and the capital city of the Balearic Island of Minorca , located in the eastern part of the island. Mahon has the second deepest natural harbor in the world: 5 km long and up to 900m. wide...
, discharged the officers and crews to shore, landed the specie, amounting to 1,600,000 dollars, and returned with the ships to Barcelona. Charles III, greatly pleased, made Forbes a grant of the duty payable at the mint for coinage of the amount, and urged him to go back to Minorca
Minorca
Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....
and fetch the specie.
Forbes, doubting the legality of the capture, excused himself until he should receive instructions from home, or from General Stanhope
James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope
James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope PC was a British statesman and soldier who effectively served as Chief Minister between 1717 and 1721. He is probably best remembered for his service during War of the Spanish Succession...
, the British ambassador and commander-in-chief in Spain, and, to avoid any appearance of backwardness, set out to confer with Stanhope. He joined the part of the allied army under Marshal Staremberg
Guido Starhemberg
Guido Wald Rüdiger, count of Starhemberg; was an Austrian military officer.He was a cousin of Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg , the famous commander of Vienna during the Turkish siege of 1683, and acted as his ADC during the siege...
, and was slightly wounded while charging with Brigadier Lepell's regiment at the battle of Villaviciosa
Battle of Villaviciosa
The Battle of Villaviciosa took place on December 10, 1710, between the Franco-Spanish army led by Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme and Philip V of Spain and the Habsburg-Allied army commanded by the Austrian Guido Starhemberg during the War of the Spanish Succession, one day after the decisive...
, 10 December 1710. Stanhope had surrendered at Brihuega
Brihuega
Brihuega is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Spain. According to the 2007 census , the municipality has a population of 2,835 inhabitants....
the day previous. Forbes returned to Barcelona, and found orders from home forbidding the disposal of the Genoese treasure, which sorely disconcerted the Spanish court. Forbes came to England bearing an autograph letter from Charles III to Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
. Eventually, the British government decided to retain the capture and indemnify the Genoese republic. In the end Forbes accepted 6,000 £ in lieu of what had promised to prove a large fortune. Full details of the transaction are given in Memoirs of the Earls of Granard, pp. 87–93.
In January 1711, the Duke of Argyll was appointed to the command in Spain. He set out in the spring, leaving Forbes, who was to serve with him, in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to solicit supplies for the army, which was short of money. Forbes obtained an order for eight hundred thousand dollars of the Genoese treasure, and set off, riding through Holland, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the Tyrol
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
, and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
to Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, where he took ship, with such despatch that he reached Barcelona in twenty-one days from England. He served with the army in Spain during that year, at the head of three hundred cavalrymen drafted from home, whom Argyll purposed to form into a new regiment of horse under Forbes's command. The regiment was never completed, as peace negotiations were too far advanced. A return of the army in Spain, dated 19 February 1712, is in Treasury Papers, cxliv. 23, and is the only paper of any interest entered under Forbes's name in the Calendars of State Papers for the period.
In 1712, Forbes was appointed to the Greenwich
HMS Greenwich
Six ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Greenwich after the town of Greenwich, now part of London:* HMS Greenwich was a 54-gun fourth rate launched in 1666...
of 50 guns, and became cornet
Cornet
The cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
and major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
in his troop of horse-guards. After the peace of Utrecht
Treaty of Utrecht
The Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht, comprises a series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single document, signed by the belligerents in the War of Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March and April 1713...
he commanded a small squadron of vessels in the Mediterranean, and took up his residence with his wife and child in Minorca, whence he returned home in 1716. The year after he was appointed lieutenant-governor of the castle of St. Phillipa, Minorca, and acted as governor of the island during the brief hostilities with Spain
War of the Quadruple Alliance
The War of the Quadruple Alliance was a result of the ambitions of King Philip V of Spain, his wife, Elisabeth Farnese, and his chief minister Giulio Alberoni to retake territories in Italy and to claim the French throne. It saw the defeat of Spain by an alliance of Britain, France, Austria , and...
in 1718. He introduced better order in the island, and abolished the trials for witchcraft, which had been a source of much misery.
On his return home in 1719, Forbes, at the desire of George I
George I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
, proceeded to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, to carry into effect a long-cherished project of the emperor Charles VI, of forming a naval power either in Naples and Sicily or on the Adriatic, for which purpose Forbes received the rank of vice-admiral in the imperial service with a salary of twelve thousand florins a year, and unlimited powers of organisation. But the imperialist ministers looked coldly on the scheme, and adopted a policy of tacit obstruction, which at the end of two years led Forbes to resign his appointment in private audience with the emperor, who presented him with a valuable diamond ring in recognition of his services. Forbes joined the king at Hanover, and afterwards returned home.
In 1724 he was appointed to command the Canterbury
HMS Canterbury (1693)
HMS Canterbury was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Deptford on 18 December 1693.She was rebuilt at Portsmouth according to the 1719 Establishment, and was relaunched on 15 September 1722...
of 60 guns on the Mediterranean station, and was employed on shore at the defence of Gibraltar against the Spaniards in 1726–7. In September 1727 Forbes, who had previously sat in the English House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
for the borough of Queenborough
Queenborough (UK Parliament constituency)
Queenborough was a rotten borough situated on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.From 1572 until it was abolished by the great reform act of 1832, it returned two Members of Parliament. The franchise was vested in the freemen of the town, of whom there were more than 300. Its electorate was therefore one...
, was called to the Irish house of peers under the title of Baron Forbes.
In 1729, he was appointed governor and captain-general of the Leeward Islands
Leeward Islands
The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...
, a post he resigned at the end of a year. In 1730, he proposed to the government to lead a colony to Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
, where it would form a barrier against French encroachments from Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He was to be fettered by ‘no restrictions beyond the ten commandments,’ and was to have an annual grant of 12,000 £ for the use of the colony for seven years. If the government at the end of that time was satisfied to take over the settlement, Forbes was to be created an English peer, with a perpetual pension of 1,000 £ a year out of the revenues of the post office. If the government were not satisfied to take over the colony, a grant of the sum was to be made to Forbes and his heirs, with a palatinate jurisdiction, similar to that of Lord Baltimore in Maryland, in which case Forbes was to repay the 84,000 £ advanced, and pledged his family estates as security for the amount. Sir Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....
, who disliked Forbes as being ‘too busy and curious,’ admitted the fairness of the terms, but the project was not carried out. In 1731 Forbes was appointed to the Cornwall
HMS Cornwall (1692)
HMS Cornwall was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Southampton on 28 April 1692.She served in the War of the Grand Alliance, and in her first year took part in the Battle of Barfleur and the action at La Hougue....
of 80 guns, and commanded that ship in the Mediterranean under Sir Charles Wager
Charles Wager
Sir Charles Wager was a British Admiral and First Lord of the Admiralty between 1733 and 1742.Despite heroic active service and steadfast administration and diplomatic service, Wager's reputation has suffered from a profoundly mistaken idea that the navy was then at a low ebb...
. This was the last time he served afloat.
In 1733 Forbes was appointed envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Empress Anna of Russia
Anna of Russia
Anna of Russia or Anna Ivanovna reigned as Duchess of Courland from 1711 to 1730 and as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740.-Accession to the throne:Anna was the daughter of Ivan V of Russia, as well as the niece of Peter the Great...
. He negotiated and concluded a treaty — the first entered into by the court of St. Petersburg with any European state — for the better regulation of the customs, and for favouring the introduction of British woollen goods. After his return to England in 1734 the czarina, with whom he was a favourite, offered him supreme command of the imperial Russian navy, which he declined. He obtained his flag rank and succeeded to the title of Earl of Granard
Earl of Granard
Earl of Granard is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1684 for Arthur Forbes, 1st Viscount Granard. He was a Lieutenant-General in the army and served as Marshal of the Army in Ireland after The Restoration and was later Lord Justice of Ireland...
on the death of his father the same year.
In 1737, Granard, who was a member of the Irish Linen Company, and took much interest in political economy, was instrumental in introducing improvements in the Irish currency. The details will be found in Memoirs of the Earls of Granard, pp. 145–51. When the popular outcry against Spain arose in 1739, he was offered the command of ‘a stout squadron’ for the West Indies, but declined, believing the ministry not to be in earnest; nevertheless when his senior, Admiral Edward Vernon
Edward Vernon
Edward Vernon was an English naval officer. Vernon was born in Westminster, England and went to Westminster School. He joined the Navy in 1700 and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1702 and served on several different ships for the next five years...
, who had been laid aside, was brought back over his head and sent out, Granard considered himself superseded, and refused to serve again. His name was retained on the flag list, and half-pay was issued for him for some time, but on 31 December 1742 his resignation was finally accepted.
The statement of some biographers that he continued in the service, and was senior admiral at his death, arose from confusing Granard — who was better known in the naval service as Lord Forbes — with his son, Admiral of the Fleet the Hon. John Forbes
John Forbes (admiral)
Admiral of the Fleet John Forbes , styled The Honourable from 1734, was a British naval commander during the War of the Austrian Succession.-Family and early years:...
. Granard had retired from the army more than twenty years before he left the sister service. He had been in treaty with Lord Dundonald for the command of the 4th troop of horse-guards, for which he was to give 10,000 £, but broke off the negotiations at the wish of the Duke of Argyll, who desired to see him rise to the head of the navy. By Argyll's interest Granard was returned to the House of Commons for the Scottish burghs of Ayr, Irvine, etc.
Ayr Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)
Ayr Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800 and of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1950...
, in 1741, and took a very active part in the stormy discussions which drove Sir Robert Walpole from office on 3 February 1742, in consequence of which he was appointed one of the committee of inquiry into the conduct of the ex-minister. But he subsequently separated from his colleagues in disgust, and retired from public life.
He was made a privy councillor of Ireland, and held the governments of Westmeath and Longford
Longford
Longford is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 7,622 according to the 2006 census. Approximately one third of the county's population resides in the town. Longford town is also the biggest town in the county...
. He died in Ireland in 1765.
There is some uncertainty as to the day of his death, two different dates being given in Memoirs of the Earls of Granard, and other dates, all within the year, being given in other publications (see Notes and Queries, 6th ser. x. 312; also Ann. Reg., Gent. Mag., and Scots Mag. 1765).
In person Granard was of middle height and spare figure, with a dark complexion, and strongly marked features. In his habits he was very active and extremely abstemious, eating little and drinking nothing but water, customs to which he attributed his good health. He was a great reader, with a very retentive memory, and a quick, intelligent observer. The family manuscripts contain several treatises by him on subjects connected with political economy, geography, and the naval resources of different countries (Hist. MSS. Comm. 2nd Rep. 212).
Granard (then Lord Forbes) married in 1709 Mary, eldest daughter of Sir William Stewart, first earl of Mountjoy, and widow of Phineas Preston of Ardsallagh, co. Meath, by whom she had had two children (see Mervyn Archdall, Peerage of Ireland, vi. 153). By this lady, who died 4 Oct. 1755, he had three children: George, fourth earl of Granard, who saw a good deal of army service in the Mediterranean in his earlier years, raised the old 76th foot, which was disbanded in 1763, and died a major-general and colonel 29th foot in 1769; John (1714–1796); and a daughter.