Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser, 1st Baronet (26 February 1723[a] – 19 March 1796) was a Royal Navy officer and politician.

[4] On 25 November 1746 he was appointed post-captain in HMS Captain, sailing for the West Indies with the broad pennant of Commodore Edward Legge.

Palliser returned to England to recover, but remained lame in his left leg, and suffered perpetual and sometimes excruciating pain to which his death was eventually attributed.

[5] He returned to active service in December 1748 and was appointed to command the frigate HMS Sheerness, sailing her to the East Indies to bring news of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle which concluded Britain's role in the War of the Austrian Succession.

Palliser was then part of Edward Boscawen's squadron on the Coromandel coast from July 1749, returning to Britain to pay off Sheerness in April 1750.

He was eventually released by order of the Scottish Lords of Session, who invoked their authority to supersede that of the judge of the vice-admiralty court in Edinburgh who had sought to commit Palliser for trial.

[5] In early 1753 he was appointed captain of the 50-gun HMS Bristol, but soon afterwards returned to command a convoy comprising Seahorse and Nightingale, with orders to protect transports being used to move two British Army regiments to the Colonies immediately prior to what would become the Seven Years' War against France.

This represented a substantial deviation from the traditional and more direct easterly route, but enabled the convoy to travel in calmer weather and avoid the risk of losing transports to storms.

After that battle Eagle returned to port for repairs, and Palliser moved to command of the 74-gun HMS Shrewsbury, part of the Channel Fleet under George Anson.

In 1759 Palliser participated in the successful British capture of Quebec City, commanding the seamen who landed and took possession of Lower Town.

[7] In 1762 Palliser commanded a four-ship armada dispatched to retake St. John's, Newfoundland, but the area was already in British control when he arrived following the Battle of Signal Hill.

The French minister in London used this clash to complain to the British government against Palliser, but he was able to produce sufficient maps and supporting material to convince his superiors of his correct actions.

As such he took active steps to enforce the provisions of Treaty of Paris (1763) restricting French access to their specific fishing rights.

In 1770 Commodore Palliser was appointed Comptroller of the Navy,[2] and in that same year was elected an elder brother of the Trinity House, which oversees British lighthouses and provides general expertise to the government on naval matters.

[2][10] Under the Earl of Sandwich he joined the Board of Admiralty as First Naval Lord in April 1775[11] and received the sinecure of Lieutenant-General of Marines.

[8] Historian Sean Cadigan, author of Hope and Deception in Conception Bay (1995), has since linked Palliser's Act with the high-valuation of women's labour in 18th Century Newfoundland.

As such, Palliser's Act inspired the merger of household labour with the market, making women's work essential to the economic success of the colony.

The battle's outcome led to personal acrimony between Palliser and Keppel, resulted in their individual courts martial and increased divisiveness in the Navy.

An anonymous letter to a London newspaper accused Palliser of disobedience in the battle, and he called on Keppel to refute the allegation.

When no public refutation was forthcoming, Palliser demanded that a court martial be held to try Keppel on charges of "misconduct and neglect of duty" (which carried a death sentence if proved).

As Governor, Palliser actively supported Cook's work and assisted in the publication of his acclaimed map of Newfoundland.