JERVIS, Sir John, Earl of St. Vincent, British naval officer, born in Meaford, Staffordshire, 9 January, 1734; died 15 March, 1823. He entered the navy at the age of ten years, became a post-captain in 1760, was made a C. B. in 1782, and in this year accompanied Lord Howe in his expedition for the relief of Gibraltar. He became rear-admiral in 1787, and was in parliament from 1782 until the beginning of the French revolution, when he sailed to the West Indies and captured Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Saint Lucia. He was appointed admiral of the blue, 1 June, 1795, and on 14 February, 1797, off Cape St. Vincent, defeated a Spanish fleet which was nearly twice as strong as his own. For this he was made a peer by the title of Earl of St. Vincent and Baron Jervis of Meaford, receiving a pension of £3,000. He was first lord of the admiralty from 1801 till 1804.