LEAKE, Snt John, English admiral: b. Rotherhithe, 1656; d. Greenwich, 21 Aug. 1720. He entered the navy and in 1673 was serving under his father on board the Royal Prince. He became commander of the Firedrake in 1688 and served under Admiral Herbert in the action off Bantry Bay, 1 May 1689. His achievement of •setting fire to. the French ship Diamant in that action secured his pro motion to the command of the Dartmouth with 40 guns. He convoyed supply ships to London derry with the Dartmouth and succeeded in raising the siege. He commanded the 70-gun Eagle in the battle of Balfour, 19 May 1692, and in 1701 he was appointed governor and commander-in-chief at Newfoundland. He achieved the purpose for which he was sent out, the destruction of the French fishing fleets and settlements on that coast, and upon his return to England was promoted rear-ad miral of the fleet. In 1702 he was knighted and promoted vice-admiral. He relieved Gibraltar in 1704 and again in 1705. • He was made vice-admiral of the white in 1704. In 1706 he risked disobedience to orders and suc ceeded in relieving Barcelona, but the wisdom of his action was so clear that he received no reprimand. Later in the year he secured the
surrender of Cartagena, Alicante, Majorca and Iviza and upon his return to Portsmouth he was presented by the queen with a present of f1,000. He became admiral of the white and commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean in 1707 and captured a large fleet of the enemy's victualers with which he averted the famine which threatened Barcelona as a result of the French victory at Almanza. He later partici pated in the of Sardinia and Minorca and in 1709 he became rear-admiral of Great Britain. He was appointed one of the lords of the admiralty in 1709, acting as chairman of the board. He was member of Parliament from Rochester in 1708-14. Upon the death of Queen Anne his appointments and patents expired and he was retired on a pension of f600. Consult Leake, S. M., 'Life of Sir John Leake' (1750) • Campbell, 'Lives of the Ad mirals' (Vol. III).