John Benbow - Death and Burial

Death and Burial

Benbow died at Port Royal, Kingston, Jamaica on 4 November 1702. Whetstone reported that the cause of death was "the wound of his leg which he received in battle with Monsieur Du Casse, it never being set to perfection, which malady being aggravated by the discontent of his mind, threw him into a sort of melancholy which ended his life as before." He was buried on 16 November in the chancel of St Andrew's Church, Kingston. A marble slab was later laid over the grave, emblazoned with a coat of arms and inscribed:

Here lyeth the Body of John Benbow, Esq., Admiral of the White, a true pattern of English Courage, who lost his life in Defence of his Queene & Country, November the 4th, 1702, In the 52nd year of his age, by a wound in his Legg. Received in an Engagement with Monsr. Du Casse; being Much Lamented.

Before news of his death had reached London, the secretary of state, Lord Nottingham, wrote to Benbow in January 1703 to inform him that the queen was "extremely well pleased with your conduct and much offended with the baseness of those officers who deserted and betrayed you." Meanwhile the cabinet was preparing to promote him to Vice-Admiral of the white, and to dispatch him to transport troops to Newfoundland.