Edward, Lord Hawke 1705-81 ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET, VICE-ADMIRAL OF GREAT BRITAIN AND FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY FROM 1766 TO 1771 Hawke, Edward, first Baron Hawke (1705-81), naval officer, was born in London, the only son of Edward Hawke (d. 1718), barrister of Lincolns Inn, whose family was for many generations settled in Treriven in Cornwall. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Nathaniel Bladen of Hemsworth in Yorkshire, granddaughter of of Sir William Fairfax of Steeton, and sister of Colonel Martin Bladen. It was on his uncle, Colonel Bladen, who was a commissioner of trade and plantations from 1717 to 1746 that Hawke depended for his early naval patronage. On his father's death in 1718 Hawke became his uncle's ward. He joined the navy on 10 February 1720, having been appointed by warrant a volunteer in the frigate Seahorse (20 guns: Captain Thomas Durell). On 3 October 1737 Hawke, aged 32, had married Colonel Bladen's 17 year old niece Catherine Brooke (1719/20-1756). The marriage proved a happy one and Hawke was an affectionate father to their three sons and one daughter; three other children died in infancy. CAREER: - 1744 - Battle of Toulon 1747 - 2nd Battle of Cape Finisterre 1759 - Blockade of Brest 1759 - Battle of Quiberon Bay Hawke's resolute, but finely judged acceptance of risk, especially at Quiberon Bay, left a deep impression on his naval successors. His pro-Nelsonic stature as the winner of two consecutive victories has been recognised by British and French historians (especially Georges Lacour-Gayet). However though a fair amount has been published about Hawke since Montagu Burrows original biography of 1883, he has not been well remembered by the general public. His undemonstrative character and unsensational private life have not endowed him with universal appeal. But as a superb operational commander in 1747 and again, in uniquely testing circumstances, in 1759, and as a successful first lord of the admiralty, Hawke deserves to occupy a very special place in eighteenth century naval history. Sources: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and Montague Burrows: The Life of Edward Hawke, Lord Hawke, Admiral of the Fleet: with some accounts of the origin of the English Wars in the reign of George II. Published (1883).