Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
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Wikipedia
John Lawson (c.1615-65) was an English Naval Officer and Republican.
Son of a merchant from Scarborough, Yorkshire, Lawson was a ship's captain when the First Civil War broke out in 1642. He offered his services to the Parliament of England and was given command of the Covenant, an armed merchantman. When Scarborough's governor, Sir Hugh Cholmley, defected to the Royalists in March 1643, Lawson removed his wife and daughter to the beleaguered Parliamentarian port of Hull. During the siege, Lawson and the Covenant played an important role in keeping Hull supplied with food and ammunition and in blockading the Royalists in Scarborough. After Cholmley surrendered in July 1645, Lawson and his family returned to Scarborough. During the next few years, he emerged as a leading citizen of the town.
In 1650, Lawson was appointed commander of the 40-gun Centurion in the Commonwealth of England navy. After supporting Oliver Cromwell's campaign in Scotland, he was sent to the Azores to join Vice Admiral Penn in his pursuit of Prince Rupert in the Mediterranean. Although Rupert evaded them, Penn and Lawson had captured 36 French and Portuguese prizes by the time they returned to England in March 1652. During the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652-4), Lawson commanded the Fairfax. He was promoted to vice-admiral of the red squadron in the reorganisation of the navy that followed the English defeat at Dungeness in November 1652. At the battle of Portland in February 1653, Lawson's skilful manoeuvring to assist Blake was a major factor in the English victory. Promoted to rear-admiral of the fleet, Lawson commanded the George at the battle of North Foreland and bore the brunt of the fighting on the first day of the battle. He also fought at Scheveningen, the final battle of the war, after which he was promoted to vice-admiral and given command of the North Sea fleet blockading the Dutch coast. Like his fellow admirals Blake, Monck and Penn, Lawson was awarded a gold chain and medal for his services in the Dutch war.
Lawson was a radical in politics and religion. He supported the election of the Leveller John Wildman as Member of Parliament for Scarborough in the First Protectorate Parliament and associated with army officers critical of the Protectorate régime. In October 1654, he endorsed (and probably authored) a naval petition calling for the abandonment of impressment, provision for widows and the settlement of other grievances. Regarded with suspicion by Cromwell, Lawson was too popular with officers and crews to be dismissed. The inexperienced but trustworthy Edward Montagu was appointed General-at-Sea over him in January 1656. Lawson resigned his commission the following month amid rumours of his involvement in a projected coup by Royalists and disaffected Levellers.
After the collapse of the Protectorate in 1659, the restored Rump Parliament reinstated Lawson as vice-admiral and appointed him commander of the Channel fleet. He supported the Rump against the military junta headed by Fleetwood and Lambert that seized power in October 1659. Lawson sailed the fleet to Gravesend and threatened to blockade London, which forced Fleetwood to step down in December 1659 and restore the Rump a second time. In January 1660, Lawson was appointed to the Council of State but he was outmanoeuvred by Monck and Montagu, who secured control of the navy and engineered the Restoration of the monarchy in May 1660. Lawson reluctantly accepted the Restoration, which in turn assured the loyalty of the Channel fleet. Recognising Lawson's popularity and influence in the navy, King Charles II rewarded him with money and a knighthood.
From 1661-4, Lawson commanded a squadron in the Mediterranean securing English commerce and shipping against the corsair states of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. He returned to England on the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Dutch War and was appointed vice-admiral to the Duke of York. Lawson was wounded at the battle of Lowestoft (3 June 1665) and died of his wounds three weeks later.
[edit] References
This article incorporates text under a Creative Commons License by David Plant, the British Civil Wars and Commonwealth website http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/biog/lawson.htm
1893 text
Sir John Lawson, the son of a poor man at Hull, entered the navy as a common sailor, rose to the rank of admiral, and distinguished himself during the Protectorate. Though a republican, he readily closed with the design of restoring the King. He was vice-admiral under the Earl of Sandwich, and commanded the “London” in the squadron which conveyed Charles II. to England. He was mortally wounded in the action with the Dutch off Harwich, June, 1665. He must not be confounded with another John Lawson, the Royalist, of Brough Hall, in Yorkshire, who was created a Baronet by Charles II, July 6th, 1665.
Annotations
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Lawson, very early in 1660
“Vice-Admiral Lawson, who is confusingly against the army and in favour of the Rump, has brought the fleet into the Thames and looks as though he might be preparing to blockade London, cutting off the coal and corn on which it depends; he has his own programme of republican reform that he has submitted to the City an had rudely rejected… . Neither Pepys nor anyone else could be sure what Monck or Lawson had in mind, because neither was sure himself yet; both had explicitly repudiated the idea of support for a restored monarchy …”
— Claire Tomalin, “Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self,” p. 88, 89.
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Lawson (Summary from Ollard’s biography of Montagu)
Lawson, the sea officer par excellence, was much liked and admired by the sailors.
(1660 Edward Montagu) “On Feb 23rd Parliament elected him member of Council of State. On March 2nd it appointed him, along with Monck, General at Sea. Since Monck was Commander in Chief of the Army this gave Edward in practice sole command of the fleet. He was also made a Commissioner of the Admiralty and both his regiment of horse and his lodgings in Whitehall were restored to him…
The chief hazard that confronted Montagu in establishing himself as the effective Commander in Chief of the fleet was the presence of Sir John Lawson in that very capacity. Lawson, it will be remembered, had refused to go as Blake’s Vice-Admiral to the Med on grounds that were manifestly political and had resigned his commission. A year later he had been briefly taken into custody on suspicion of being involved in a Fifth Monarchy conspiracy against the Protectorate and had not been subsequently employed by either Oliver or Richard. On Richard’s fall he had at once been recalled by the Rump to command the fleet in the Channel, obviously as a counterweight to Montagu the commanding the fleet that had been sent to the Sound. On Montagu’s return and dismissal he had been confirmed as sole Commander in Chief and demonstrated his loyalty to his Republican employers by bringing the fleet into the Thames and threatening a complete blockade of London when the Army leaders turned the Rump out. On the face of it he had acted in naval terms exactly as Monck had in bringing his troops to the defence of the Government against a military coup. But everyone knew that Lawson was a strong partisan of left-wing opinions in politics and religion and no one knew whether Monck had any opinions at all.
In this way Lawson had provided Montagu with his card of re-entry…elected a member of the new Council of State from which Lawson had been dropped…Lawson was a popular officer, a bred seaman not a government nominee. He had shown that he was ready to risk his position for his beliefs.
…(23rd March Montagu/Pepys on the Swiftsure Lawson came aboard)…This was a great point gained for though Lawson had not concealed his strong Republican sympathies no one thought him devious. He might not like the way things were going but there was no reason why he should not, like many others, accept what he saw he could not alter. In fact he was to prove a loyal and successful flag officer in the navy of the Restoration.
…Montagu can justly claim credit for achieving this delicate transition but it would hardly have been so swift and painless without Lawson’s support. Clearly the two men got on…
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Husband of Isabella: http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/5853.php
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Lawson.
For a good write up see…
http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/biog/index_l.htm
References in the diary
- 1660
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Jan: 1
Feb: 7, 21
Mar: 6, 23, 27, 29, 31
Apr: 10, 12, 17, 24, 25
May: 7, 11, 22, 25, 26
Jun: 1, 5, 20
Aug: 23
Sep: 20, 25
Dec: 13
- 1661
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Apr: 5
Jul: 3
- 1662
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May: 8, 22
Jun: 27
Nov: 22, 30
- 1663
-
Jan: 5, 6, 12, 23, 24, 25, 26
Feb: 2, 6, 21
Mar: 14, 30
Apr: 16
Oct: 6
Nov: 9
Dec: 12
- 1664
-
Jan: 7, 11, 13, 16
May: 3
Oct: 12, 17, 24
Dec: 12
- 1665
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Jan: 2, 15
Feb: 20
Mar: 8, 20, 30
May: 12