John Ernle

Who was John Ernle?

Sir John Ernle, or Ernele, of Burytown, Broad Blunsdon, Wiltshire, served as a Royal Navy captain in the Third Anglo-Dutch War, and was briefly Member of Parliament for Calne.

The son of Sir John Ernle, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Ernle was educated at Exeter College, Oxford, after which he became a member of Lincoln's Inn. He went on to serve in the Royal Navy, commanding Ships of the line.

At the Battle of Solebay of 1672, Ernle commanded HMS Dover, and during the battle he saved Sir John Harman and the Charles from a fire ship. By the summer of 1678, he was in command of the new 64-gun ship of the line HMS Defiance. Ernle was elected member of parliament for Calne in 1685, about a year before his death.

John Aubrey says of him:

Sir John Ernele, great-grandson of Sir John Ernele above sayd, and eldest son of Sir John Ernele, late Chancellour of the Exchequer, had the command of a flag-ship, and was eminent in some sea services. He married the daughter and heir of Sir John Kerle of .... in Herefordshire.