Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, KB, PC (21 February 1705 – 17 October 1781), of Scarthingwell Hall in the parish of Towton, near Tadcaster, Yorkshire, was a Royal Navy officer. As captain of the third-rate , he took part in the Battle of Toulon in February 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession. He also captured six ships of a French squadron in the Bay of Biscay in the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre in October 1747. Hawke went on to achieve a victory over a French fleet at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in November 1759 during the Seven Years' War, preventing a French invasion of Britain. He developed the concept of a Western Squadron, keeping an almost continuous blockade of the French coast throughout the war. Hawke also sat in the House of Commons from 1747 to 1776 and served as First Lord of the Admiralty for five years between 1766 and 1771. In this post, he was successful in bringing the navy's spending under control and also oversaw the mobilisation of the navy during the Falklands Crisis in 1770. Origins He was the only son of Edward Hawke, a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, by his wife Elizabeth Bladen, a daughter of Nathaniel Bladen of Hemsworth in Yorkshire, and widow of Col. Ruthven. Hawke benefited from the patronage of his maternal uncle Colonel Martin Bladen, a Member of Parliament. Early life Hawke joined the navy as a volunteer in the sixth-rate on the North American Station in February 1720. Promoted to lieutenant on 2 June 1725, he transferred to the fifth-rate on the West Coast of Africa later that month, to the fourth-rate in the Channel Squadron in April 1729 and to the fourth-rate in November 1729. After that he moved to the fourth-rate HMS Edinburgh in the Mediterranean Fleet in May 1731, to the sixth-rate in January 1732 and to the fourth-rate , flagship of Commodore Sir Chaloner Ogle, Commander-in-Chief of the Jamaica Station, in December 1732. After this, Hawke's career accelerated: promoted to commander on 13 April 1733, he became commanding officer of the sloop later that month and promoted to captain on 20 March 1734, he became commanding officer of the sixth-rate later that month. The following year he went on half-pay and did not go to sea again until July 1739 when he was recalled to become commanding officer of HMS Portland on