(Sir William), a brave English admiral, third son of Sir John Monson of South Carlton in Lincolnshire, was born in 1569. He was employed in many expeditions against the Spaniards in Queen Elizabeth's time, and was highly honoured; the queen knighted him for his services in the earl of Essex's expedition to Cadiz, where he assisted much by his wife and moderate counsel to the earl. Military men were no favourites with James I. therefore, on the death of the queen, he received no recompense or pay beyond the ordinary service in which he was engaged; nevertheless, as admiral of the narrow seas, he supported the honour of the British flag against the infant influence of the Dutch states, of which he frequently complains in his Navy Tracts; and protected our trade against the encroachments of France. He had the misfortune to fall into disgrace by his vigilance, and was imprisoned in the Tower through the resentment of some powerful courtiers; yet he was discharged, and wrote a vindication of his own conduct, intituled, "Concerning the insolencies of the Dutch, and a justification of Sir William Monson." He spent his latter days in peace and privacy, which he employed in digesting his Navy Tracts, and died in 1643.—Part of these tracts were printed in 1682; and they were afterwards all included in Churchill's Collection of Voyages.