Vice-Admiral John Campbell (1720–1790) was born in the parish of Kirkbean in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. Campbell was a British naval officer, navigational expert and colonial governor. Campbell joined the Royal Navy at an early age and sailed around the world in 1740 on Centurion. He later became known as a navigational expert, and was from 1782 to his death Governor and Commander-in-Chief in Newfoundland. Life Early life John Campbell was born in the parish of Kirkbean, Scotland. His father, John Campbell (d. 1733), was minister of Kirkbean and John was at an early age apprenticed to the master of a coasting vessel. That vessel's mate was pressed into the navy, and John is said to have entered the navy by offering himself in exchange for him. He served for three years in Blenheim, Torbay, and Russell before being appointed in 1740 as a midshipman to Centurion. On Centurion'''s ensuing circumnavigation of the world as the flagship of Commodore George Anson, he was promoted master's mate when a vacancy came up soon after sailing, and was promoted to master after the 1743 engagement against the Manila galleon Nuestra Señora de Covadonga. One of his fellow midshipmen was Augustus Keppel, who from then on became a lifelong friend. He was married, but his wife's name is not known. Returning home in early January 1745, Campbell passed the examination for lieutenant on 16 January 1745, and with Anson's influence behind him, he was promoted to commander on 27 May 1747, and given command of a sloop. Promoted to post captain on 23 November 1747, he was given command of the new frigate called Bellona, a command he held until the peace in 1748. Praised for his successes on Bellona, in 1749 he was given command of the expedition to the Pacific by the sloop Porcupine and Raven, then of one to the north-west and north-east passages in the Atlantic, both of which were proposed but then called off for political reasons. Astronomy and Brest Meanwhile, in about 1747, Campbell had his first direct involvement in the development of astronomical navigation, as the first person to use a Hadley quadrant to measure the angular distance between the moon and fixed stars. The astronomer royal, James Bradley, was shown Campbell's results and found them to correspond exactly with the actual distances in the sky, and Bradley and Campbell together made frequent observations at Greenwich of the