part in the suppression of the Jacobite rising by cutting off the Old Pretender's supplies in 1715 and for this he was created a baronet on 15 November 1715. In 1717 he was commanding the British fleet in the Baltic with full cooperation from Denmark's admiral Peter Raben. He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 14 March 1718 and, with his flag in the second-rate , he was sent out as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet to thwart any attempt by the Spanish to gain or to consolidate their position in Sicily. He encountered the Spanish fleet at Naples and, after pursuing it down the Strait of Messina, sent ahead his fastest ships causing the Spanish fleet to split in two. In the ensuing action on 11 August 1718, known as the Battle of Cape Passaro, the Spanish fleet was devastated: 10 ships of the line were captured, 4 ships of the line sunk or burnt and 4 frigates were captured at this early and critical stage of the War of the Quadruple Alliance. Byng was then given power to negotiate with the various princes and states of Italy on behalf of the English crown. Following his return to England, Byng became both Treasurer of the Navy and Rear-Admiral of Great Britain on 21 October 1720. He was admitted to the Privy Council on 3 January 1721 and, having stepped down from the Admiralty Board in September 1721, was created Baron Byng of Southill in the county of Bedford, and 1st Viscount Torrington in Devon on 21 September 1721. He developed his estate at Southill Park in Bedfordshire in the 1720s. Byng was installed as a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath on 17 June 1725 and appointed First Lord of the Admiralty during the Walpole–Townshend Ministry in August 1727; in this role he was instrumental in the establishment of the Royal Naval College at Portsmouth. Marriage and progeny Byng was married at St Paul's, Covent Garden, on 6 March 1691 to Margaret Master, daughter of James Master of East Langdon in Kent. Together the couple had fifteen children (eleven sons and four daughters) of whom six lived to survive him: Pattee Byng (1699–1747), 2nd Viscount Torrington, died without surviving progeny. George Byng (1701–1750), 3rd Viscount Torrington Robert Byng (1703–1740), Governor of Barbados (1739–1740), from whom the Earls of Strafford stem. John Byng (1704–1757), Admiral controversially