Yesterday was the birthday of one of England’s most famous admirals, Admiral Edward Vernon, born November 12^th, 1684. He made his name in the War of the Spanish Succession when he took part in the British capture of Barcelona in 1705.

In 1739, during the War of Jenkins’ Ear (so called because British Captain, Robert Jenkins had had his ear cut off by Spanish coastguards – only the British could go to war over somebody’s ear!) Vernon’s forces captured the Spanish town of Porto Bello in Panama. Upon his return to England, Vernon was feted as a hero and was granted the Freedom of the City of London. His victory led to the public debut of the song “Rule Britannia” and one of the city’s thoroughfares was renamed Portobello Road in his honour.

He has the distinction of having a drink named after him too, since, in an effort to prevent excessive drunkenness amongst his sailors, he ordered that the rum ration be weakened to 1 part rum and 3 parts water. To make the drink more palatable, lemon or lime juice was added to the mix. This is one reason why Americans still to this day refer to the British as “Limeys”! However, more pertinent to this story, the resulting drink was called “Old Grog” since this was Vernon’s nickname due to his practice of wearing grogham coats – grogham being a type of coarse fabric.

He also took part in the failed attempt to capture Cartagena from the Spanish in 1741, one of his officers being George Washington’s brother, Lawrence, who named the family plantation “Mount Vernon” (now one of America’s most visited properties) in honour of the Admiral.

After his service in the Royal Navy, Vernon moved into politics and became an avid Parliamentary reformer, striving to improve the fighting efficiency of the Navy. He died in 1757, almost 50 years before the Navy’s greatest ever triumph at Trafalgar, and there is a monument erected to his memory at Westminster Abbey.

Spare him a thought the next time you pour yourself a glass of grog!