The subject of our present Memoir was the descendant of an ancient family, which had settled in England at the time of the Norman conquest, and obtained landed possessions of considerable extent. Some of his ancestors enjoyed the honours of the Peerage, and the name of Vernon frequently appears with approbation in the annals of English history. Our hero was born at Westminster on the 12th of November 1684. His father, who was Secretary of State to King William and Queen Mary, gave him a good education, intending to qualify him for some civil employment; but the youth was desirous of entering into the sea service, to which his father at last consented; and he pursued with surprising application and success, those studies which were connected with his intended line of profession. His first expedition at sea was under Vice-Admiral Hopson, when the French fleet and Spanish galleons were destroyed at Vigo. In 1702 he served in an expedition to the West Indies under Commodore Walker; and, in 1704, on board the fleet commanded by Sir George Rooke, which convoyed the King of Spain to Lisbon, on which occasion Mr. Vernon had the honour to receive a valuable ring and a hundred guineas from that Monarch's own hand.