he was returned unopposed as Member of Parliament for Portsmouth. and was advanced to Senior Naval Lord on the Admiralty Board in June 1727 but stood down as a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty when the Walpole–Townshend Ministry fell in May 1730. Norris lost his post as Lord on the Admiralty in 1730, and lost his command to Sir Charles Wager in 1731. In Parliament he joined the opposition and voted against the Government on the army in 1732 and on the Excise Bill in 1733. At the beginning of 1734, the government came to terms and he was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 20 February 1734 and, with his flag in HMS Britannia, he became commander-in-chief of a fleet sent to the Iberian Peninsula to protect Portugal from Spanish attack. He was returned as Member of Parliament for Rye again at the 1734 British general election. and was appointed Vice-Admiral of Great Britain in April 1739 and went on to be Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet at the outset of the War of Jenkins' Ear in Autumn 1739. In 1744 Norris was asked to defend Britain from an imminent French Invasion and in 1745 made Captain of Deal Castle. He was preparing for battle against the French fleet, when storms intervened scattering the invasion transports, with heavy loss of life, thereby ending the immediate threat of invasion. Norris retired from the navy later in the year. Norris died at his country home, Hemsted Park in Kent, on 13 June 1749 and was buried at St George's Church in Benenden. His tomb was sculpted by Peter Scheemakers. Family In May 1699 Norris married Elizabeth Aylmer, daughter of Admiral Matthew Aylmer; they had five children (including Vice Admiral Henry Norris and Captain Richard Norris). His granddaughter was the art collector and amateur artist John Norris Hewett. References Sources Further reading Nordisk familjebok External links John Norris Three Decks |- |- 1670s births 1749 deaths Year of birth uncertain British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 Captains of Deal Castle Lords of the Admiralty Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Royal Navy admirals of the fleet Ambassadors of Great Britain to Sweden Ambassadors of Great Britain to Denmark Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain