[2] Graves' first military experience was as a volunteer with Commodore Henry Medley's crew around 1740.

[1] Graves became Commodore-Governor of Newfoundland in 1761[1] and given the duty of convoying the seasonal fishing fleet from England to the island.

Graves, Admiral Alexander Colville and Colonel William Amherst retook the port city.

Graves strictly enforced the treaties to the extent that the French government protested.

Following several battle injuries, Graves retired to his Devon estate in 1794, and died in February 1802, aged 76.