John Alexander Panton (1739-80)
Evidently an officer without much influence, Panton appears to have benefitted from the rapid promotions available in the East Indies, but his career came to an end with his early death in 1780.
Panton was born in London to Henry Panton, a master peruque (wig) maker, and his wife Ann.
Towards the end of the Seven Years War, the 23-year-old Panton was commissioned lieutenant on 4 November 1762, but he had to wait a further fourteen years for his next step, being promoted commander of the sloop Swallow at Bombay on 22 February 1776 during the early stages of the American Revolutionary War. By the beginning of the following year, his command was serving in the Red Sea, having given passage to the famous geographer and first hydrographer of the Admiralty, Alexander Dalrymple, who was returning to England from Madras via Egypt. During his voyage on the Swallow, Dalrymple made careful observations of the magnetic field of the earth, and when he left the ship, he requested that Panton continue the measurements and eventually return the instrument (called a dipping needle) to scientist Henry Cavendish when he returned to England.
Panton was promoted a post captain on 26 June 1777, and he commanded the small frigate Seahorse 24 in the action with the French off Pondicherry on 10 August 1778. During September 1779 he was sent by Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Vernon, commanding the East Indies station, to deliver letters to the Chinese authorities at Canton to protest the non-payment of debts owed by the local merchants to private creditors from Madras. This intervention in the delicate trade through Canton was against the wishes of the East India Company, which feared that the complaints would result in the Chinese tightening up the rules for trade with foreigners, which is exactly what happened. Panton left two months later, and the dispute was eventually resolved, if not to the satisfaction of the ‘John Company’.
On 9 September 1780 the Sea Horse (along with the privateer Hornby) captured a Spanish-flagged Greek-owned ship in Macao Roads laden with three chests of treasure, birds’ nests (valuable in Chinese cuisine) and sapan wood (used as a red dye). This must have provided Panton with a substantial sum in prize money, which unfortunately he did not live long enough to enjoy, since he died at Madras in December 1780, still in command of the Seahorse.
Unmarried at his death, he left the bulk of his estate of several thousand pounds to his cousin Jane Panton, and his brother, the Reverend Hugh Panton of Dulwich College.