George Anson Baron Anson

George Anson Anson, Baron 1697-1762, British admiral. In his famous voyage (1740-44) around the world, Anson, in spite of shipwrecks and scurvy, inflicted great damage on Spanish shipping and returned to England with a rich prize. He was raised to the peerage after his popular naval victory (1747) off Cape Finisterre. Appointed then as first lord of the admiralty, he assisted William Pitt, Lord Chatham, in reorganizing naval administration.

Bibliography: See A Voyage round the World (comp. by R. Walter, rev. ed. 1911); biographies by M. V. Anson (1912) and S. W. C. Pack (1960); L. A. Wilcox, Anson's Voyage (1970).

Anson, George, Baron Anson (1697–1762), made his famous voyage round the world in 1740–4; an account of it compiled, according to the title-page, by his chaplain Richard Walter appeared in 1748. It is the source of Cowper's poem ‘The Castaway’.

Anson, George, Baron Anson (1697–1762) British admiral, remembered for his circumnavigation of the world (1740–44). Due to shipwreck and scurvy among his crew he returned with only one of his original six ships though with almost £500,000 worth of Spanish treasure. In 1747, off Cape Finisterre, he captured six French enemy warships during the War of the AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION. Later, at the Board of Admiralty, he created the corps of marines, and by his reforms and effective planning, played a major part in securing Britain's naval successes in the SEVEN YEARS WAR.