Sir John Sutton

Admiral Sir John Sutton, ( – 8 August 1825) was a Royal Navy officer of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century who is best known for his service as captain of the ship of the line HMS Egmont during the French Revolutionary Wars, serving with the Mediterranean Fleet in several prominent engagements. He later served as a judge at the controversial Gambier court-martial in 1809.

Life Sutton was born in c. 1758, the son of Thomas Sutton of Moulsey and his wife Jane Hankey. He joined the Royal Navy during the American Revolutionary War as midshipman on board the ship of the line HMS Superb, flagship of Admiral Sir Edward Hughes in the Indian Ocean. He was wounded in an attack on the navy of Hyder Ali on 8 December 1780 at Mangalore, during the Second Anglo-Mysore War and rewarded with command of the sloop HMS Nymph. In October 1809 he was promoted to vice-admiral and shortly afterwards was appointed commander-in-chief of the Halifax station. He had married in 1797 Frances Hotham, daughter of Beaumont Hotham, 2nd Baron Hotham, and a first cousin.