{{Short description|English naval officer and colonial administrator}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = Admiral | name = Sir George Ayscue | birth_date = 1616 | death_date = 5 April 1672 | image = Lely George Ayscue.jpg | caption = Portrait by Sir Peter Lely, 1665–1666 | birth_place = | death_place = Westminster, London | burial_place = St Margaret's Church, Westminster, England | nickname = | residence = | nationality = | service_years = 1646–1672 | rank = Admiral of the White | allegiance = England | branch = Royal Navy | commands = Admiral of the Irish Seas | unit = | battles = Battle of Plymouth (1652)<br />Battle of Lowestoft<br />Four Days' Battle | awards = | relations = }}
Admiral of the White '''Sir George Ayscue''' ({{circa|1616}} – 5 April 1672) was an English naval officer and colonial administrator who served in the English Civil War and the Anglo-Dutch Wars. He also served as the governor of the Isles of Scilly in 1647 and governor of Barbados from 1650 to 1652.
==Biography== Ayscue (sometimes spelled Askew or Ayscough) came from an old Lincolnshire family, and was knighted by Charles I on 9 August 1641.<ref name="auto">{{cite journal |last1=Le Fevre |first1=Peter |title=Sir George Ayscue, Commonwealth and Restoration Admiral |journal=The Mariner's Mirror |date=January 1982 |volume=68 |issue=2 |pages=189–202 |doi=10.1080/00253359.1982.10655858}}</ref> In 1646 he received a naval command, In August 1647 he was appointed Governor of the Isles of Scilly, a post he held until January 1648.<ref name="auto"/>
In July 1648, during the Civil War, while serving as a captain in the navy of the English Parliament, he was recognized as restoring sailors' allegiances at sea<ref>"House of Lords Journal Volume 10: 1 July 1648." ''Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 10, 1648–1649''. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1767–1830. 354–356. [https://www.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol10/pp354-356 British History Online]. Retrieved 20 March 2021.</ref> and later in the year given command of two vessels and promoted to Rear Admiral.<ref>House of Lords Journal Volume 10: 8 September 1648." ''Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 10, 1648–1649.'' London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1767–1830. 493–497. [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol10/pp493-497. British History Online]{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Retrieved 20 March 2021.</ref>
In 1649, he was appointed Admiral of the Irish Seas.<ref name="auto"/> In 1650 Ayscue was appointed Governor of Barbados and Commander of the squadron sent to the island.<ref name="auto"/> In 1651, he served with General at Sea Robert Blake in the capture of the Scilly Isles from Sir John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. Later that year he captured Barbados from Lord Willoughby and the other English colonies in the Americas.<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Ayscue, Sir George||volume=3|page=77}}</ref>
In the First Anglo-Dutch War he was defeated by the Dutch Commodore Michiel de Ruyter at the Battle of Plymouth. Relieved of his command, he went into service in the Swedish Navy, returning after the Restoration of Charles II.<ref name="EB1911"/> In 1664 he was appointed Rear-Admiral of the Blue Squadron.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=John |last2=Berkenhout |first2=John |title=Lives of the British admirals: containing a new and accurate naval history, from the earliest periods. |date=1785 |publisher=G. G. J. and J. Robinsons ... |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/livesofbritishad02camp/page/272 272] |url=https://archive.org/details/livesofbritishad02camp}}</ref> In June 1665, he was appointed Vice-Admiral of the Blue.<ref name="auto"/> During the Second Anglo-Dutch War he commanded a squadron at the Battle of Lowestoft in 1665.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}
In February 1666, he was appointed Admiral of the Blue and at the start of the Four Days' Battle in June 1666 he was elevated to the rank of Admiral of the White,<ref name="auto"/> his flagship, {{HMS|Prince Royal|1660|2}}, ran aground on the Galloper Shoal and he was forced to surrender his ship to Lieutenant-Admiral Cornelis Tromp, earning the unfortunate distinction of being the highest-ranking English naval officer to have been captured by the enemy. He was held prisoner during the war in the Dutch Loevestein Castle prison, and almost certainly never again took to sea as admiral.<ref name="EB1911"/>
In December 1671, he was the President of the Court Martial of Rear-Admiral Sir William Jennings, held on board {{HMS|Monmouth|1667|2}}.<ref name="auto"/> Sir George Ayscue was still a serving officer when he died at his Westminster house on 5 April 1672. His burial was held on 13 April 1672 at St Margaret's Church, Westminster, London, England.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Harrison |first1=Simon |title=Sir George Ayscue (d. 1672) |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=66 |website=threedecks.org |publisher=S. Harrison |access-date=16 February 2019 |date=2010–2018}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-gov}} {{succession box | before=The Lord Willoughby of Parham | title=Governor of Barbados | years=1651–1652 | after=Daniel Searle, ''acting'' }} {{end}}
{{Governors of Barbados|state=collapsed}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayscue, George}} Category:1671 deaths Category:Royal Navy admirals Category:Roundheads Category:Royal Navy personnel of the First Anglo-Dutch War Category:English prisoners of war Category:1610s births Category:Burials at St Margaret's, Westminster Category:Royal Navy personnel of the Second Anglo-Dutch War