Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey

Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, KG, GCB, GCH, PC (17 May 1768 – 29 April 1854), styled Lord Paget between 1784 and 1812 and known as the Earl of Uxbridge between 1812 and 1815, was a British Army officer and politician. After serving as a Member of Parliament for Carnarvon and then for Milborne Port, he took part in the Flanders Campaign and then commanded the cavalry for Sir John Moore's army in Spain during the Peninsular War; his cavalry showed distinct superiority over their French counterparts at the Battle of Sahagún and at the Battle of Benavente, where he defeated the elite chasseurs of the French Imperial Guard. During the Hundred Days he led the charge of the heavy cavalry against Comte d'Erlon's column at the Battle of Waterloo. At the end of the battle he lost part of one leg to a cannonball. In later life he served twice as Master-General of the Ordnance and twice as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.


The Marquess of Anglesey

KG GCB GCH PC
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
In office
27 February 1828  22 January 1829
MonarchGeorge IV
Prime MinisterThe Duke of Wellington
Preceded byThe Marquess Wellesley
Succeeded byThe Duke of Northumberland
In office
4 December 1830  12 September 1833
MonarchWilliam IV
Prime MinisterThe Earl Grey
Preceded byThe Duke of Northumberland
Succeeded byThe Marquess Wellesley
Personal details
Born17 May 1768 (1768-05-17)
London
Died29 April 1854(1854-04-29) (aged 85)
Uxbridge House, London
Resting placeLichfield Cathedral
NationalityBritish
Political partyWhig
Tory
Spouse(s)(1) Lady Caroline Villiers
(1774–1835)
(divorced 1810)
(2) Lady Charlotte Cadogan
(1781–1853)
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford
Military service
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Branch/serviceBritish Army
Years of service1793–1854
RankField Marshal
Commands7th Light Dragoons
Battles/warsFrench Revolutionary Wars

Napoleonic Wars

AwardsKnight of the Order of the Garter
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order

Background, education and politics

He was born Henry Bayley, the eldest son of Henry Bayley-Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge and his wife Jane (née Champagné), daughter of the Very Reverend Arthur Champagné, Dean of Clonmacnoise, Ireland.[1] His father assumed the surname Paget in 1770. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford.[2][3]

Paget entered parliament at the 1790 general election as member for Carnarvon,[3][4] a seat he held until the 1796 general election when his brother Edward was elected unopposed in his place.[4] He then represented Milborne Port from 1796 until he resigned his seat in 1804 by appointment as Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds,[5] and again from the 1806 election[6] to January 1810, when he took the Chiltern Hundreds again.[7]

Military career

The Marquess of Anglesey at Waterloo, by Jan Willem Pieneman.
The Marquess of Anglesey by George Dawe

At the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, Paget raised a regiment of Staffordshire volunteers and was given the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel-commandant in December 1793.[2][8] As the 80th Regiment of Foot, the unit took part in the Flanders Campaign of 1794 under Paget's command.[3] He was formally commissioned into the British Army as a lieutenant in the 7th Regiment of Foot on 14 April 1795[9] and received rapid promotion, first to captain in the 23rd Regiment of Foot, also on 14 April 1795,[10] then to major in the 65th Regiment of Foot, on 19 May 1795[11] and then to lieutenant-colonel in the 80th Regiment of Foot on 30 May 1795.[12] He transferred to the command of the 16th Light Dragoons on 15 June 1795.[13] Promoted to colonel on 3 May 1796,[14] he was given command of the 7th Light Dragoons on 6 April 1797.[15] He commanded a cavalry brigade at the Battle of Castricum in October 1799 during the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland.[16]

Paget was promoted to major-general on 29 April 1802 and lieutenant-general on 25 April 1808.[17] He commanded the cavalry for Sir John Moore's army in Spain; his cavalry showed distinct superiority over their French counterparts at the Battle of Sahagún in December 1808, where his men captured two French lieutenant colonels and so mauled the French chasseurs that they ceased to exist as a viable regiment.[18] He also commanded the cavalry at the Battle of Benavente later in December 1808, where he defeated the elite chasseurs of the French Imperial Guard, and then commanded the cavalry again during the Retreat to Corunna in January 1809.[16] This was his last service in the Peninsular War, because his liaison with Lady Charlotte, the wife of Henry Wellesley, afterwards Lord Cowley, made it impossible subsequently for him to serve with Wellington, Wellesley's brother.[2][16] His only war service from 1809 to 1815 was in the disastrous Walcheren expedition in 1809,[2] during which he commanded an infantry division.[16] In 1810 he was divorced and then married Lady Charlotte, who had been divorced from her husband around the same time.[16] He inherited the title of Earl of Uxbridge on his father's death in March 1812 and was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 4 January 1815.[19]

Waterloo

During the Hundred Days he was appointed cavalry commander in Belgium, under the still resentful eye of Wellington.[16] He fought at the Battle of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815 and at the Battle of Waterloo two days later, when he led the spectacular charge of the British heavy cavalry against Comte d'Erlon's column which checked and in part routed the French Army.[20]

One of the last cannon shots fired that day hit Paget in the right leg, necessitating its amputation.[16] According to anecdote, he was close to Wellington when his leg was hit, and exclaimed, "By God, sir, I've lost my leg!" — to which Wellington replied, "By God, sir, so you have!"[21] According to his aide-de-camp, Thomas Wildman, during the amputation Paget smiled and said, "I have had a pretty long run. I have been a beau these 47 years and it would not be fair to cut the young men out any longer."[21] While Paget had an articulated artificial limb fitted, his amputated leg meanwhile had a somewhat macabre after-life as a tourist attraction in the village of Waterloo in Belgium, to which it had been removed and where it was later interred.[22]

The Marquess of Anglesey by Henry Edridge.
The Marquess of Anglesey, 1840

Paget was created Marquess of Anglesey on 4 July 1815.[16] A 27-metre (89 ft) high monument to his heroism (designed by Thomas Harrison) was erected at Llanfairpwllgwyngyll on Anglesey, close to Paget's country retreat at Plas Newydd, in 1816.[23] He was also appointed a Knight of the Garter on 13 March 1818[24] and promoted to full general on 12 August 1819.[25]

Later career

Paget's support of the proceedings against Queen Caroline, alleging her infidelity, made him for a time unpopular, and when he was on one occasion beset by a crowd, who compelled him to shout "The Queen!", he added the wish, "May all your wives be like her".[1][2] At the coronation of George IV in July 1821, Paget acted as Lord High Steward of England.[2][26] He was also given the additional honour of captain of Cowes Castle on 25 March 1826.[27] In April 1827, he became a member of the Canningite Government, taking the post of Master-General of the Ordnance.[28] Under the Wellington ministry, he accepted the appointment of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in February 1828.[29]

In December 1828, Paget addressed a letter to Patrick Curtis, the Roman Catholic primate of Ireland, stating his belief in the need for Catholic emancipation, which led to his recall by the government; on the formation of Earl Grey's administration in November 1830, he again became lord-lieutenant of Ireland.[2][16] In this capacity he introduced state-aided education for 400,000 children.[1] In July 1833, the ministry resigned over the Irish question. Paget spent the following thirteen years out of office, then joined Lord John Russell's administration as Master-General of the Ordnance in July 1846.[30] He was promoted to field-marshal on 9 November 1846[31] and, having been appointed Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire on 31 January 1849,[32] he finally retired from the Government in March 1852.[33]

Paget also served as honorary colonel of the 7th Light Dragoons[34] and later of the Royal Horse Guards.[35] He died of a stroke at Uxbridge House in Burlington Gardens on 29 April 1854 and was buried at Lichfield Cathedral, where a monument is erected to his honour.[36] He was succeeded by his eldest son from his first marriage, Henry.[37]

Family

Paget was first married on 5 July 1795 in London to Lady Caroline Elizabeth Villiers (16 December 1774 – 16 June 1835), daughter of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey and Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey. They had eight children:[37]

In 1809, Paget scandalously eloped with Lady Charlotte Cadogan (born 12 July 1781), the wife of Henry Wellesley and daughter of Charles Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan and Mary Churchill. On 28 March 1809, Charlotte's brother Henry Cadogan challenged Paget to a duel:

"My Lord, I hereby request you to name a time and place where I may meet you, to obtain satisfaction for the injury done myself and my whole family by your conduct to my sister. I have to add that the time must be as early as possible, and the place not in the immediate neighbourhood of London, as it is by concealment alone that I am able to evade the Police."[39]

The contest took place on Wimbledon Common on the morning of 30 May with Hussey Vivian as Lord Paget's second and Captain McKenzie as Cadogan's. Both men discharged their pistols, honour was satisfied and the parties left the field uninjured.[40]

Paget's wife Caroline divorced him on 29 November 1810, after which he married Lady Charlotte.[37] They had ten children, of whom seven survived infancy:[37]

References

  1. "Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  2. Chisholm 1911, pp. 16–17.
  3. Heathcote, p. 235
  4. Stooks Smith, p. 594
  5. "No. 15711". The London Gazette. 16 June 1804. p. 744.
  6. "No. 15978". The London Gazette. 25 November 1806. p. 1538.
  7. "No. 16339". The London Gazette. 3 February 1810. p. 178.
  8. "No. 13604". The London Gazette. 17 December 1793. p. 1129.
  9. "No. 13769". The London Gazette. 11 April 1795. p. 329.
  10. "No. 13769". The London Gazette. 11 April 1795. p. 330.
  11. "No. 13780". The London Gazette. 19 May 1795. p. 499.
  12. "No. 13782". The London Gazette. 26 May 1795. p. 537.
  13. "No. 13788". The London Gazette. 16 June 1795. p. 627.
  14. "No. 13892". The London Gazette. 14 May 1796. p. 460.
  15. "No. 13999". The London Gazette. 4 April 1797. p. 316.
  16. Heathcote, p.236
  17. "No. 16142". The London Gazette. 3 May 1808. p. 622.
  18. Fletcher, p. 95
  19. "No. 16972". The London Gazette. 4 January 1815. p. 18.
  20. Barbero, pp. 85–187
  21. "Obituary: The 7th Marquis of Anglesey". The Telegraph. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  22. BBC History Magazine, vol. 3, no. 6, June 2002
  23. "The Marquess of Anglesey's Column & Nelson's Monument". Places to visit. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  24. "No. 17340". The London Gazette. 14 March 1818. p. 473.
  25. "No. 17505". The London Gazette. 12 August 1819. p. 1441.
  26. "No. 17732". The London Gazette. 3 August 1821. p. 1605.
  27. "No. 18240". The London Gazette. 22 April 1826. p. 936.
  28. "No. 18357". The London Gazette. 1 May 1827. p. 961.
  29. "No. 18447". The London Gazette. 29 February 1828. p. 409.
  30. "No. 20621". The London Gazette. 10 July 1846. p. 2534.
  31. "No. 20660". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 10 November 1846. p. 3987.
  32. "No. 20941". The London Gazette. 2 February 1849. p. 314.
  33. Heathcote, p.237
  34. "No. 15366". The London Gazette. 16 May 1801. p. 550.
  35. "No. 20180". The London Gazette. 23 December 1842. p. 3820.
  36. Paget, p. 35
  37. G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume III, page 208. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.
  38. "Key to Mr Leslie's picture of Queen Victoria receiving the Holy Sacrament at her Coronation". National Portrait Gallery.
  39. The Marquess of Anglesey (1990). One Leg: The Life and Letters of Henry William Paget, First Marquess of Anglesey, K.G. 1768-1854. Pen and Sword. p. 101. ISBN 978-1-4738-1689-3.
  40. Sir Walter Scott (1811). The Edinburgh Annual Register. John Ballantyne and Company. p. 151.
  41. Lady Cadogan's Illustrated Games of Patience or Solitaire (1914).

Sources

Caricature of Henry William Paget

Attribution:

Further reading

  • Cooper, Leo (1965). British Regular Cavalry 1644–1918. Chapman & Hall.
  • Hibbert, Christopher (1967). Waterloo. Wordsworth Military Library. ISBN 978-1853266874.
  • Paget, 7th Marquess of Anglesey, Henry (1961). One-Leg: The Life and Letters of Henry William Paget, First Marquess of Anglesey, KG, 1768–1854. The Reprint Society: London. ASIN B0007IWAQC.
  • Roberts, Andrew (2005). Waterloo. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0007190768.
  • Warner, Philip (1984). The British Cavalry. Dent and Sons. ISBN 978-0460046176.
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Glyn Wynn
Member of Parliament for Carnarvon
17901796
Succeeded by
Hon. Edward Paget
Preceded by
The Lord Muncaster
Mark Wood
Member of Parliament for Milborne Port
17961800
With: Robert Ainslie
Succeeded by
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Parliament of Great Britain
Member of Parliament for Milborne Port
1801–1804
With: Robert Ainslie 1801–1804
Hugh Leycester 1802–1804
Succeeded by
Hugh Leycester
Hon. Charles Paget
Preceded by
Hugh Leycester
Hon. Charles Paget
Member of Parliament for Milborne Port
1806–1810
With: Hugh Leycester
Succeeded by
Hugh Leycester
Viscount Lewisham
Military offices
Preceded by
David Dundas
Colonel of the 7th (or Queen's Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons
1801–1842
Succeeded by
Sir James Keanrey
Preceded by
The Viscount Hill
Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards (The Blues)
1842–1854
Succeeded by
The Lord Raglan
Political offices
Preceded by
The Duke of Wellington
Master-General of the Ordnance
1827–1828
Succeeded by
The Viscount Beresford
Preceded by
The Marquess Wellesley
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
1828–1829
Succeeded by
The Duke of Northumberland
Preceded by
The Duke of Northumberland
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
1830–1833
Succeeded by
The Marquess Wellesley
Preceded by
Sir George Murray
Master-General of the Ordnance
1846–1852
Succeeded by
The Viscount Hardinge
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Earl of Uxbridge
Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey
1812–1854
Succeeded by
The Marquess of Anglesey
Vice-Admiral of North Wales
and Carmarthenshire

1812–1854
Succeeded by
The Lord Mostyn
Preceded by
The Earl Talbot
Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire
1849–1854
Succeeded by
The Lord Hatherton
Court offices
Vacant
Title last held by
The Lord Erskine
Lord High Steward
1821
Vacant
Title next held by
The Duke of Hamilton
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Marquess of Anglesey
1815–1854
Succeeded by
Henry Paget
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by
Henry Paget
Earl of Uxbridge
2nd creation
1812–1854
Succeeded by
Henry Paget
Peerage of England
Preceded by
Henry Paget
Baron Paget
(descended by acceleration)

1812–1832
Succeeded by
Henry Paget

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