James Ley, 3rd Earl of Marlborough

Who was James Ley, 3rd Earl of Marlborough?

James Ley, 3rd Earl of Marlborough was a British peer and Member of Parliament, styled Lord Ley from 1629 to 1638.

He was the only son of Henry Ley, 2nd Earl of Marlborough, whom he succeeded in 1638. Marlborough was General of Ordnance in the West for Charles I in 1643, during the English Civil War, and later in the year was appointed Admiral of the Royal fleet at Dartmouth.

Through diligent study, Marlborough gained a reputation as an able mathematician and navigator. He founded an English colony in St Croix in 1645, which was, however, destroyed in 1650. He proposed to embark on another colonizing venture in 1649, which was apparently unsuccessful.

After the Restoration, in late 1661, he was given command of HMS Dunkirk and sent out as commodore of a squadron to claim Bombay, which had been ceded to England as the dowry of Catherine of Braganza. However, the Portuguese were able to stall the handover by a variety of pretexts, and Marlborough was forced to land the garrison troops sent with him on Anjadip Island and return home with his ships.

Given command of the Old James, he was killed at the Battle of Lowestoft. He was succeeded by his uncle William.