Vernon
EDWARD, British naval officer; ficer; officer; born in Westminster, England, educated, and following a strong natural bent, entered the royal navy. He served in the battle of Vigo Bay, Oct. 12, 1702, and with Sir George Rooke at Malaga in 1704, and soon got a captaincy. Made M. P. for Penryn (1727), and for Portsmouth (1734-1741), he boasted in the House of Commons that he could take Porto Bello with six ships. Sent off with the specified number of vessels, he fulfilled his boast, Nov. 22, 1739. In 1741, however, he failed in his attack on Cartagena, but his popularity was undiminished, and he long represented Ipswich in Parliament. Smollett, who acompanied him to Cartagena, has immortalized the expedition in "Roderick Random." In 1746 he was removed from the list of admirals, through a dispute with the admiralty.
Vernon published "A New History of Jamaica from the Earliest Account to the Taking of Porto Bello" (1740), and "Original Papers Relating to the Expedition to Panama" (1744). He died in Nacton, Suffolk, Oct. 29, 1757.