Richard Lestock
Royal Navy admiral (1679-1746)

Admiral of the Blue Richard Lestock (22 February 1679 – 17 December 1746) was a Royal Navy officer who served in the War of the Spanish Succession and War of Austrian Succession. He fought in a number of battles and was a controversial figure, most remembered for his part in the Battle of Toulon and the subsequent court-martial.
Family and early years
Lestock is believed to have been born on 22 February 1679, though he may have been born some years previously. He was the second son of Richard Lestock (d. 1713) and his wife, Rebecca (d. 1709). His father had been magistrate for Middlesex, and commander of a number of merchant ships. On 26 December 1690, the father was among those invited by the Admiralty to volunteer for naval service, which he did. On 6 January 1691 Lestock's father was appointed to command HMS Cambridge.
Lestock followed his father into the navy.
“Richard Lestock” enters the record as royal Navy admiral (1679-1746). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Richard, Lestock and Royal can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Richard Lestock” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Richard, Lestock and Royal provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1996296. VIAF identifies the subject as 73726339. The Library of Congress control number is nr93019961. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1679, 1746, 1713 and 1709.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Richard Lestock”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Richard Lestock primary sources, Richard Lestock archive and Richard research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Richard Lestock”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Richard Lestock” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.