LEASE, Sir JOHN ( 1636-1720 ) . An English admiral. Ile was horn at Rotherhithe. Surrey, England: early entered the navy, and distin guished himself under his father in 1673 in the action between Sir Edward Spragg and Van Tromp, and afterwards, when appointed captain, convoyed vietualers into Londonderry, thus coin polling the enemy to raise the siege. In 1702 he was promoted to the rank of commodore, and, in command of a squadron, destroyed the French settlements at Newfoundland. restoring the is land to the English. For these services he was made on his return rear-admiral. and soon after wards vice-admiral of the blue, and knighted. In 17n4 he displayed great skill and gallantry in relieving Gibraltar when on the point of being taken by 500 Spaniards who had climbed up the rock. Soon after he was made vice-admiral of the white, and again, in 1705. relieved Gibraltar by destroying the French squadron. In 1706
be relieved Barcelona when reduced to great ex tremity by the Spaniards and French. obliging King Philip to raise the siege. In the same year he commanded the fleet which captured Alicante, Cartagena, and the island of Majorca. He was now made admiral of the white and commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean fleet. In 1708 he reduced Sardinia and Minorca. In 1709 he was made rear-admiral of Great Britain. The same year lie was appointed Lord of the Admiralty, and continued high in office till the death of Queen Anne. Ile was several times a member of Parliament for Rochester. On the accession of George I. he was superseded on a pension of £600 a year. He died at Greenwich, on August 21, 1720. The Life of Sir John Lcakr, by Stephen Martin Leake, his nephew, was pri vately printed in London (1750).