Cammock (Camocke, Camock), George (c.1666–1722), sailor and Jacobite, was born in Co. Down, son of a Mr Camocke and Mary Arney. Little is known of his early life but he joined the Royal Navy in the mid 1680s, serving as a midshipman 1687–90. He served as first lieutenant of the Lion (1690) and the Loyal Merchant (1693) and was captain of the Owner's Goodwill (a fireship) and the Intelligence (1695–7), seeing action at the battles of Beachy Head and Barfleur and burning French ships at La Hogue. He captained the Bonettla off Cape Clear before serving with great distinction as captain of the Speedwell (1702) and Monck (1712–14), capturing many French privateers off the Irish coast. His diligence and strict attention to duty and his abilities as a seaman were highly spoken of by the different commanders he served, including Sir George Rooke.
In 1714 he was ordered to bring English soldiers back from Italy after the conclusion of hostilities in the war of the Spanish succession (1701–13), but instead he opted to carry Spanish soldiers home for profit. Cashiered from the navy, he joined the Jacobites and ferried James III, the Old Pretender, to Scotland in 1715. He also served briefly with Adm. Thomas Gordon in helping to create Peter the Great's navy before going into the Spanish service.
Although Cammock's commitment to the Jacobite cause was seldom questioned, Arthur Dillon (qv), the duke of Berwick (qv), and James III himself considered him to be indiscreet. Others considered him to be a rogue and knave. Nevertheless he remained heavily involved in Jacobite plotting, suggesting grandiose schemes for the furtherance of the Jacobite cause. These included a Jacobite privateering interest operating from Sweden, an alliance with English pirates in the Bahamas, and an offer to the British admiral Sir George Byng of a dukedom and £100,000 to come over to the Jacobite cause.
On 17 October 1715 James III gave him a commission as admiral of the White squadron and allowed him to join the Spanish service, which he entered in May 1718 as a rear-admiral. He became chef d'escadrille to Philip V with orders to command a squadron of twenty-three ships in Barcelona which was preparing for an invasion of Sicily. James III ordered him to attempt to get Spain to recognise him publicly as king and promise to pay Byng the £100,000 to desert the Hanoverian cause. Cammock finally made his ludicrous offer to Byng when trapped by him in the harbour of Messina. Byng laughed and refused to accept any more Spanish delegations that included Cammock.
Cammock ran the British blockade, but his ship was hit and he was forced to escape in his longboat. He finally managed to hire another boat, by which he brought James to Spain, where he was recognised as legitimate king of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Cammock later became the scapegoat for Spanish naval catastrophes and was dismissed from the navy and imprisoned at Ceuta, in Spanish Morocco. He died 3 June 1722 at Rouen, Normandy.