John Lindsay

Who was John Lindsay?

Sir John Lindsay KB was a British naval officer of the 18th century, who achieved the rank of admiral late in his career. Joining the Navy during the Seven Years War, he served off France, followed by service for several years as captain of a warship stationed in the West Indies. After war's end, he returned to England, serving as an MP for Aberdeen Burghs from 1767 to 1768. From August 1769 to March 1772 Lindsay was promoted to commodore and assigned as commander-in-chief of the East Indies Station. He resigned from the Navy for a period following the Battle of Ushant off the coast of France, during the American War of Independence. In 1784 he was assigned as commodore and commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean. In the last year of his life, he was promoted to rear admiral as an honorary position, as his failing health prevented him from taking a command.

He and his wife had no children together, but he was known to have three illegitimate children, including two daughters and a son, each by different women. One was Dido Elizabeth Belle, mixed-race daughter born into slavery in 1761 in the West Indies.