Byron, John (1723–1786)

English vice-admiral, grandfather of the poet Lord Byron. Having distinguished himself in the wars against France, he was put in command of an expedition of discovery to the South Seas. In the course of this voyage he explored the coasts of Patagonia, the Falkland Islands, and the Strait of Magellan, visiting several islands unknown to Europeans, and sailed round the world.

Byron commanded the British squadron in the West Indies during the American War of Independence. His Voyage round the World in the Years 1738–48 (1767), was translated into French in 1769 and edited by Hawkesworth in his Voyages (1773). He was made vice-admiral in 1778.

As a midshipman he was shipwrecked on the west coast of Patagonia, and was a prisoner for three years, returning to England in 1745. He became Samuel Johnson's successor on the English Gentleman's Magazine in 1773