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Historical person
1684–1757
Edward Vernon was a British admiral and politician best known for capturing Porto Bello in 1739 and commanding the failed expedition against Cartagena de Indias. Nicknamed ‘Old Grog’, he became associated with the diluted rum ration and with public debate over naval administration.
Edward Vernon was born in Westminster and died in Nacton. Vernon gained fame with the capture of Porto Bello in 1739, but his later expedition against Cartagena de Indias failed with heavy losses; his naval career also intersected with domestic political criticism of Admiralty management.
In Tim Holden’s Rule Britannia, The expedition carries him from Virginia to Jamaica and into Admiral Edward Vernon’s vast operation against Cartagena de Indias, where military ambition promises advancement and security for the family he hopes to establish.
Series
The New World Saga follows the Washington family and a wider cast of soldiers, traders, settlers, Indigenous diplomats, servants and political agents through the imperial wars that reshaped eighteenth-century North America. It begins with Lawrence Washington’s service in the War of Jenkins’ Ear, then turns to the young…
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