Edward Vernon, an English admiral, born in Westminster, Nov. 12,1684, died at his seat of Nacton in Suffolk, Oct. 29,1757. He served in the expedition of Admiral Hopson, which on Oct. 12, 1702, destroyed the French and Spanish fleets off Vigo; and he was present at the sea fight off Malaga between the French and English in 1704. He attained the rank of rear admiral in 1708, and remained in active service till 1727, when he was elected to parliament for Penryn, and in the succeeding parliament, which lasted from 1734 to 1741, he sat for Portsmouth. In the house he loudly condemned all the measures of the ministry, without respect of persons, and in a debate declared that Porto Bello could be taken with six ships. For this remark he was extolled all over the kingdom, and to silence the general clamor the ministry sent him to the West Indies with the rank of vice admiral of the blue. In November, 1739, he appeared off Porto Bello with six men-of-war, and the city was taken the day after the attack began, the English losing only seven men. In January, 1741, he sailed from Jamaica with 29 ships of the line and 80 smaller vessels, having on board 15,000 sailors and 12,000 land troops, and on March 4 appeared before Cartagena, but was repulsed with loss, and sickness destroyed those who escaped.

But Vernon did not lose his popularity in England, and in 1742 planned an expedition against Panama. He had been elected to the parliament of 1741 from Penryn, from Rochester, and from Ipswich. He accepted the representation of Ipswich, and was returned to the parliaments of 1747 and 1754. During the invasion of the pretender in 1745, he was employed to guard the coast of Kent and Sussex; in this he gave satisfaction, but on account of a quarrel with the admiralty his name was struck from the list of admirals.