Anson, George, 1st Baron Anson (1697 -1762)

George Anson was the son of William Anson of Shugborough in Staffordshire and Isabella Carrier, whose brother-in-law was the Earl of Macclesfield and Lord Chancellor. In 1712, at the age of 15, he joined the Royal Navy, becoming a commander in June 1722, eventually rising to First Lord of the Admiralty during the Seven Years’ War. On 18 September 1740 Anson set off as commander of six warships to harass Spanish shipping in the Pacific. But the voyage was beset with misfortune, and after rounding the Horn, only three of his ships survived, while scurvy and other diseases severely depleted the crew. Near the Philippines he captured a richly laden Spanish galleon which made his fortune for life. Because of an increase in Spanish warships in the Pacific it was impossible for Anson to return to England via Cape Horn. Pushing westwards, he visiting China, then journeyed around the Cape of Good Hope, eventually arriving in England on 15 June 1744, having achieved a circumnavigation of the world in three years and nine months. Of the original crew of 1,854 souls, only 188 survived the voyage. On his arrival Anson was a national hero, and huge crowds lined the streets of London to catch a glimpse of him and the treasure he had acquired on his voyage. The official account of events was eagerly anticipated, and in 1748, his Voyage Round the World in the Years MDCCXL, I, II, III, IV was published with great success. In April 1748, Anson married Lady Elizabeth Yorke, daughter of Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke. They had no children. On 11 June 1747 he was elevated to the peerage as Lord Anson, Baron of Soberton, in the County of Southampton, and in June 1751 he became First Lord of the Admiralty.