Samuel Hulse

Born the second son of Sir Edward Hulse, 2nd Baronet and Hannah Hulse (née Vanderplank),[1] Samuel Hulse was educated at Eton College[2] and commissioned as an ensign in the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards on 17 December 1761.[3] He was promoted to captain in his regiment on 12 March 1776.[4] He saw his first active duty when he was called out to deal with the Gordon Riots in June 1780.[3] Promoted to colonel in the army on 26 November 1782,[5] he became Treasurer and Receiver-General to the Prince of Wales in January 1787.[6]

Promoted to second major in his regiment on 14 March 1789,[7] and to first major in his regiment of his regiment on 11 August 1792,[8] Hulse commanded the 1st Battalion at the Battle of Famars in May 1793 and at the Siege of Dunkirk in August 1793 during the Flanders Campaign.[3] Promoted to major-general on 18 October 1793,[9] he commanded the 1st Guards Brigade at the Battle of Willems in May 1794 and then joined the retreat into Germany later that year.[10] He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in his regiment on 3 May 1794.[11]

After returning to England in 1795 Hulse was given command of troops in the Brighton area.[10] Promoted to lieutenant general on 9 January 1798,[12] he was sent to Ireland with a brigade of guards at the time of the 1798 rebellion although he was never actually engaged in putting down the rebellion.[10] He took part in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland in August 1799 and then returned to England to become General Officer Commanding South East District with promotion to full general on 25 September 1803.[13] He commissioned the building of West Heath House at Woolwich Road in Erith around this time.[14]

Hulse went on to be lieutenant-governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in 1806 and Master of the Household to the Prince of Wales in August 1812.[15][16] He was appointed a Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order when the Prince ascended to the throne as King George IV in 1820[10] and knighted in 1821.[17] He also became Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in February 1820[18] and Vice-Chamberlain of the Household of King George IV[19] as well as a member of the Privy Council in May 1827.[20]

Hulse also served as honorary colonel of the 56th Regiment of Foot,[21] of the 19th Regiment of Foot[22] and then of the 62nd Regiment of Foot.[23] He was promoted to field marshal on the occasion of the coronation of King William IV on 22 July 1830.[24] He died at the Royal Hospital Chelsea on 1 January 1837 and was buried in the family vault at St Michael and All Angels Churchyard at Wilmington in Kent.[25]

Hulse married Charlotte (died 5 February 1842); they had no children.[1]

• Heathcote, Tony (1999). The British Field Marshals, 1736–1997: A Biographical Dictionary. Barnsley: Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-696-5.