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George
Brydges Rodney was baptised at St.Giles-in-the-Fields, London on the
13 Feb 1719. For a short time he was at Harrow, and entered the navy
in July 1732 as a volunteer per order, or king's letter-boy, on board
the Sunderland of 60 guns, with Captain Robert Man. In May 1733 he
joined the Somerset of 80 guns, flagship of Rear-admiral Nicholas
Haddock by whom on 29 Oct., he was promoted to be lieutenant of the
Dolphin frigate. In 1741 he was lieutenant of the Essex, one of the
fleet in the Channel, under Sir John Norris (1660-1749) and went out
to the Mediterranean in 1742 with Admiral Matthews, by whom on 9 Nov.,
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promoted
to be captain of the Plymouth of 60 guns, then under orders for England.
In 1748 Rodney was appointed to the 40-gun ship Rainbow as governor
of Newfoundland. In December 1756 he was in London and was ordered
to sit on the court-martial on Admiral John Byng. With good fortune
he was moved to Dublin in February 1757, a few weeks before Byng was
shot. On 19 May 1759 Rodney was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral,
and in 1761 went out to the West Indies as commander-in-chief on the
Leeward.
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