Matthew Aylmer, 1st Baron Aylmer

Who was Matthew Aylmer, 1st Baron Aylmer?

Matthew Aylmer, 1st Baron Aylmer was an Irish Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Navy.

Aylmer was the second son of Sir Christopher Aylmer of Balrath County Meath. In 1678 he entered the Royal Navy as a Lieutenant under the protection of George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Early 1679 he was promoted to the rank of Captain, and he appears to have served almost constantly during the next ten years on the coast of Algiers and in the Mediterranean.

In October 1688 he was appointed captain of HMS Swallow in the Thames, but at once gave in his allegiance to the cause of the Revolution. In 1690 he commanded the Royal Katherine, and, in the Battle of Beachy Head, was one of the seconds to Sir Ralph Delaval who commanded the blue squadron. In 1692, still in the Royal Katherine, he was one of the seconds of the Commander-in-Chief at the Battle of Barfleur. He was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral in February 1693 and to Vice Admiral in 1694, when he accompanied Admiral Russell to the Mediterranean. He was also appointed a Lord of the Admiralty at this time.