ABSTRACT
John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont, replaced the Earl of Sandwich as First Lord of the Admiralty on 16 September 1763. However, a closer study reveals that Egmont was an administrator of considerable ability. The problems he faced were overcome with imagination, the navy was adequately funded, and it was put into a very respectable condition by the time his stewardship ended. Despite Basil William's opinion that he was very inferior to his father, Lord Egmont was a capable if at times eccentric minister. It is important to make this distinction to appreciate the part that Egmont and others of the King's Friends played in the administrative and financial reforms of the 1760s. These reforms involved much government business including the administration of the navy. The Grenville ministry, under which Egmont served as First Lord of the Admiralty, brought in a number of innovations, including the extension of taxation to the American colonies.
