Whitehaven
and John Paul Jones

---

 
 

Map showing the Ranger's course from Brest to Whitehaven, around Ireland and back to Brest.  For a good sketch of this and Jones's other service in the American Revolution, see A. T. Mahan, JOHN PAUL JONES IN THE REVOLUTION.  Jewett had access to this sketch as she worked on her novel.
 
 

From a Tourist Map

The Old Quay is where John Paul Jones landed in his famous raid.
An early lighthouse stands near the center, next to the lock.
The figure with the cannon at the end of the Old Quay
memorializes the J. P. Jones raid.
 

Whitehaven from an 1815 engraving
based on an 1808 pencil drawing by Joseph Farrington, R. A.
from Harry Fancy, An Outline History of Whitehaven
Published by the Copeland Borough Council, 1996.
 

Whitehaven harbor viewed from The Beacon (see map).
The Old Quay divides the inner from the outer harbor.
The old lighthouse is near the center of the quay.
 

Above the Old Quay
 

Above the Old Quay
 

Above the Old Quay.
 

 

Plaque on the Old Lighthouse / Watchtower
It reads:
Watchtower and Old Quay
Erected about 1730, the Watchtower
was used for general surveillance
of sailing vessels in the harbour.
The Old Quay was the port's first
pier, of late Seventeenth Century
foundation, with historic associations
including the John Paul Jones raid
in 1778 -- the last invasion of England.
Whitehaven Civic Society 1971.
 

The Lighthouse / Watchtower on the Old Quay
 
 

The Lighthouse / Watchtower on the Old Quay
 
 

Plaque Commemorating the John Paul Jones Raid
It reads:

The only unfriendly
American invasion
of Britain occurred at
Whitehaven in the early hours of
23rd April 1778.  John Paul Jones,
who was apprenticed in the town,
led men of the Continental Navy
ashore and spiked the harbour's
defensive guns before making his
getaway.  At a ceremony witnessed
by representatives of the US Navy
on 27th June 1999, Jones was
formally pardoned by the
Commissioners of the Harbour
of Whitehaven on behalf of the
people of the town.

The Renaissance of Whitehaven -- A Millennium Project
 
 

Commemorative Statue: American sailor spiking an English gun.
 
 

Commemorative Statue: American sailor spiking an English gun.
 
 

Along the Old Quay
 
 

Photographs and research by Graham Frater
2003