of Nottingham; she was noted for her beauty, and her portrait, painted by Kneller in 1703, was engraved by J. Smith in 1705 (Noble, ii. 375–6). She died of small-pox on 23 May 1721, leaving issue six sons and six daughters. The eldest son, Thomas (1704–1758), became fourth baronet, with the death of whose grandson Thomas in 1831 the baronetcy expired. Of Sir Roger's younger sons Roger (1721–1775) was canon of Windsor, and Savage, vice-admiral, is separately noticed. Another son, John Mostyn (1710–1779), general, was elected to Westminster School in 1723, and to Christ Church, Oxford, in 1728. He was made captain in the 2nd foot-guards in 1743, aide-de-camp to the king in 1747, colonel of the king's own royal fusiliers in 1751, of the 13th dragoons in 1754, of the 5th dragoons in 1758, and of the 1st dragoons in 1763; major-general in 1757, lieutenant-general in 1759, and general in 1772. He became governor and commander-in-chief of Minorca in 1768, and in 1773 was defendant in an action in London brought by one Anthony Fabrigas, whom he had banished from the island (cf. The Proceedings at Large, London, 1773, fol.) In the parliaments which met in 1747, 1754, and 1761 he sat for Malton, Yorkshire. He was appointed governor of Chelsea Hospital in 1768, was gentleman of the bedchamber to George II and George III, and died in Dover Street, London, on 16 Feb. 1779 (cf. Notes and Queries, 8th ser. i. 362; Welch, Alumni Westmonast. p. 297; Walpole, Memoirs of George III).
[Foster's Alumni Oxon. 1500-1714; Burke's Extinct Baronetage, ii. 120; Boyer's Political State of Great Britain, vi. viii. 530; Gent. Mag. 1739, p. 272; Returns of Members of Parliament; Parl. Hist.; State Papers cited in text.]
MOSTYN, SAVAGE (d. 1757), vice-admiral, a younger son of Sir Roger Mostyn, bart. (1675–1739) [q. v.], was on 2 March 1733-4 promoted to be lieutenant of the Pembroke. He afterwards served in the Britannia, flagship of Sir John Norris [q. v.], and on 3 July 1739 was promoted to be commander of the Duke, fireship attached to the fleet off Cadiz under Rear-admiral Nicholas Haddock [q. v.], by whom, on 17 Dec. 1739, he was posted to the Seaford. The rank was confirmed by the admiralty to 6 March 1739-40. In April he was appointed to the Winchelsea, and towards the end of the year to the 60-gun ship Deptford, one of the fleet which went out to the West Indies with Sir Chaloner Ogle (d. 1751) [q. v.], and, under Vice-admiral Edward Vernon [q. v.], took part in the operations against Cartagena in March and April 1741. In December 1743 he was appointed to the Suffolk, one of the fleet with Sir John Norris off Dungeness, on 24 Feb. 1743–4.
In April he was moved to the Hampton Court, one of four ships which, on 29 Dec. 1744, lost sight of the fleet in the Soundings, and while looking for it broad off Ushant, fell in with two French ships of the line on 6 Jan. 1744–5. Two of the English ships, the Captain [see Griffin, Thomas, d. 1771] and the Sunderland, parted company [see Brett, John]. The Hampton Court and Dreadnought continued the chase; but, although the Hampton Court came up with the French ships, Mostyn did not engage, as the Dreadnought was then four or five miles astern. During the night and the next day the ships continued near each other, but the Dreadnought could not come up with the enemy; Mostyn would not engage without her; and thus the two Frenchmen got safely into Brest (Mostyn to the Secretary of the Admiralty, 23 Jan.; Voyages and Cruises of Commodore Walker, pp. 27 et seq.; Laughton, Studies in Naval History, p. 231). In England Mostyn's conduct evoked unfavourable comment, and at his request the admiralty ordered a court-martial, but without appointing a prosecutor. The evidence brought before the court was to the effect that in the fresh breeze that was blowing the Hampton Court lay along so much that her lower deck ports were under water, and that her main-deck guns, with extreme elevation, would not have carried more than fifty yards, while the French ships were remarkably stiff and all their guns were effective. There was no cross-examination, and the court decided that Mostyn had done 'his duty as an experienced good officer, and as a man of courage and conduct' (Minutes of the Court-martial, published 1745, 8vo). It was probably influenced by the fact that Daniel Finch, second earl of Winchilsea, Mostyn's maternal uncle, had only just gone out of office as first lord of the admiralty and might hold that office again. Afterwards, in letters to the admiralty, Mostyn persistently urged that the ship's spars and weights ought to be reduced; that, 'if their lordships will give me leave to say, we have too much top for our bottom' (Captains' Letters, M. 11). It may be that his judgment and seamanship were more at fault than his personal courage; but public opinion was far from accepting the court's decision, which was palpably absurd, and was severely criticised in a pamphlet attributed to Admiral Vernon (An Enquiry into the Conduct of Captain Mostyn, being Remarks on the Minutes of the Court-martial and other Incidental Matters. Humbly
