Constituency : Wick Burghs 1857-9, Ripon 1866-71
We move on to the by-election victors of the 1865-68 Parliament,. It was a short but momentous one beginning with the death of Palmerston, followed by the short second outing for Russell as premier , the effective retirements of Derby and Russell and the emergence of Gladstone and Disraeli as the principal protagonists of the era, exemplified by the bewildering tussle over the Second Reform Act.
Lord John took over at Ripon after Charles Wood was elevated to the peerage.
Lord John was another younger son of the Marquess of Tweeddale. He joined the Royal Navy in 1840 and saw action in the First Opium War. After service in the Mediterranean he took part in the Siege of Sevastopol where he was slightly wounded. He was promoted to captain. He gave two years service as MP for Wick Burghs before returning to the sea. He took part in the Battle of Taku Forts during the Second Opium War in 1860.
Russell made Lord John a member of the Admiralty Board on his election. Gladstone made him a junior naval lord in 1868 but he resigned his seat in 1871 to take command of a ship. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1872 then second commander-in-chief of the Channel Squadron in 1875. He got to be Commander in 1877 quickly followed by a promotion to vice admiral. In 1878 he sailed to Cyprus to take over in line with the terms of the Congress of Berlin
Lord John was made Second Naval Lord in 1880 then Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1883 where he provided support for the Nile Expedition to rescue General Gordon. He was made First Naval Lord in 1886 then Admiral of the Fleet in 1888. He retired in 1897.
He died in 1916 aged 88.
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