The Ayscoughs are of very ancient origin, and connected with many of the oldest families in the kingdom. Dean Ayscough, great uncle to the officer whose services we are about to notice, was Preceptor to his Majesty George III.; and he married a sister of the celebrated Lord Lyttleton.
The subject of this memoir was born on board the Swan sloop of war, during a desperate action fought by that vessel, when returning from the coast of America; in which engagement his father, who then commanded the Swan, and who had married during his absence from England, lost for ever the use of a leg, and was otherwise severely injured.
Having lost his gallant parent at a very early age, Mr. John Ayscough commenced his naval career under the auspices of the late Admiral Sir James Wallace, Knt., and served his time as a Midshipman on board the Goliath 74, Juno and Hebe frigates, and Hector, Alcide, and Monarch, ships of the same class as the Goliath.
In the autumn of 1791, the Juno, commanded by that excellent officer the late Sir Samuel Hood, K.B., was employed in attendance upon their late Majesties, at Weymouth; and Mr. Ayscough had the honor of being much noticed by all the royal family, but particularly by the King, who never went on board without recognizing the young relative of his esteemed preceptor. One morning, the monarch missed his juvenile favorite, enquired where he was, and desired Captain Hood to send for him.
We should here remind our readers, that Midshipmen of the good old school were occasionally in the habit of making their own mess-puddings. Mr. Ayscough happened to be thus engaged when his Majesty’s message reached him, notwithstanding which he instantly obeyed the royal mandate. We should likewise remark, that his head was at that time covered with a profusion of ringlets; and that, in the hurry of running upon deck, they incommoded him by falling over his face.
a sword, value 50l. He fell a victim to the climate of the West Indies, when commanding the Hawke sloop of war, April 8, 1808. A monument to his memory is now standing in the island of Mariegalante.
