John Rodney

Captain John Rodney (10 May 1765 – 9 April 1847) was a British naval officer, politician, serving as the member of parliament for Launceston (1790–1796) and public servant, serving as the third Colonial Secretary of Ceylon (1806–1833).

John Rodney was born on 10 May 1765 the third son of Admiral George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney and the eldest son to his second wife, Henrietta née Clies, the daughter of John Clies, a Portuguese businessman.

Naval career On 18 May 1778 he commenced studies at the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth but was discharged on 28 October 1779, joining his father's flagship, , as a midshipman. On 16 January 1780 he commanded a cannon at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent and was commissioned a lieutenant on 10 September that year. From 1789 to 1814 he was an equerry to Prince William, Duke of Clarence and St Andrews. On 30 April 1793, following the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, he was given the command of , taking a convoy from Lisbon back to England in September 1794. On 3 September 1806 he was appointed as the Chief Secretary of Ceylon holding the post until he resigned from the post in 1833. He was replaced with Philip Anstruther, who took up the role on 7 May 1834.

Personal life Rodney married Lady Catherine Nugent (1766–1794), daughter of the Thomas Nugent, 6th Earl of Westmeath, on 4 July 1784, with whom he had three daughters and two sons. His daughter Frances Mary, married Robert Stuart, 11th Lord Blantyre.

Following Catherine's death on 26 February 1794, he married Louisa Martha Stratford (1778–1814), daughter of John Stratford, 3rd Earl of Aldborough, on 19 October 1799, and they had two sons and six daughters. Louisa died on 2 December 1814 and he then married Antoinette Reyne in Ceylon on 7 June 1815, and they had a son and five daughters.

Rodney died on 9 April 1847 in Boulogne, Hauts-de-Seine, Ile-de-France, France.