Thomas Staunton St Clair

Last updated

Thomas Staunton St Clair

CB KH
Major General Thomas Staunton St Clair CB KH artist and soldier.png
St Clair in the uniform of a Portuguese brigadier-general (after 1842)
Born1785
Gibraltar
Died5 November 1847
Malta
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Portuguese Army
Years of service1803–1847
Rank Major-general
Battles/wars
Awards Army Gold Medal
Military General Service Medal
Spouse(s)Caroline Woodbridge

Major General Thomas Staunton St Clair CB KH (1785– 5 November 1847) was a Scottish officer in the British Army known for his water-colour paintings which recorded British colonies in Gibraltar.

Contents

Life

St Clair was born in Gibraltar in 1785 where his father, William, was a colonel of the "Scottish Borderers" - the 25th regiment. St Clair's childhood was spent in Scotland at Rosslyn Castle where his father was employed by the first Earl of Rosslyn. [1] Thomas had an elder brother called William who was involved with the mutiny in Gibraltar. William died fighting in Martinique in 1809. [2] He also had a brother David and two sisters. His father was a friend of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn and he was able to use this to advance his career more rapidly. [2]

St Clair's painting of "The Naval Stores at Rosia Bay" in 1827 1827 Naval Stores at Rosia Bay.jpg
St Clair's painting of "The Naval Stores at Rosia Bay" in 1827
His painting of Malaga's bay and castle near Churrana Malaga, the bay and castle 6 miles distant taken from near Churrana by Thomas Staunton.jpg
His painting of Malaga's bay and castle near Churrana

He signed up for the British Army, joining the 94th Regiment of Foot in 1803, and the following year he was made a lieutenant. In 1806 he was posted to the West Indies as an ensign in the Royal Scots, who garrisoned Berbice and Demerara during the first decade of the 1800s. [3] In the summer of 1809 he took part in the Walcheren Campaign in the Netherlands. In 1814 he was awarded an Army Gold Medal for his part in the Battle of the Nive. [4] By 21 June 1817 he was a lieutenant colonel. [5]

In 1820, St. Clair returned to the Rock of Gibraltar as one of the senior officers in command of the garrison at the age of just 36.

In 1832 he was sent to Malta and in 1834 he published his autobiographical book A Soldiers Recollections of the West Indies and America. [2] This included an account of his journey to Stabroek aboard HMS Brilliant that arrived early in 1806 and left him in South America until his return in June 1808. [2]

He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1838 Coronation Honours. [6] St. Clair died in Malta in 1847 a year after he was made a major-general.

Legacy

He married Caroline Woodbridge of Richmond, Surrey who was ten years younger than him and they had children. St. Clair has paintings in Gibraltar Museum

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James St Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn</span> Scottish military officer and politician (1762–1837)

General James St Clair-Erskine, 2nd Earl of Rosslyn, was a Scottish military officer, politician and peer who served as Lord President of the Council from 1834 to 1835.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">76th Regiment of Foot</span> Military unit

The 76th Regiment of Foot was a British Army regiment, raised in 1787. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 33rd Regiment to form the Duke of Wellington's Regiment in 1881.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot</span> Military unit

The 50th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 97th Regiment of Foot to form the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment in 1881.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Colville</span> British Army general

General Sir Charles Colville was a British Army officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars. He was an ensign in 1781. He served in the West Indies from 1791 to 1797 and while serving there was promoted to lieutenant-colonel (1796). He helped to suppress the Irish Rebellion of 1798. He was in Egypt in 1801 and fought at Martinique in 1809. He commanded brigade, and afterwards division, in the Peninsular War from 1810 until 1814. During the Waterloo Campaign of 1815 he commanded a division in Belgium and the same year was made a K.C.B. In 1819 he was promoted to lieutenant-general and served as commander-in-chief at Bombay from 1819 until 1825. He was governor of Mauritius from 1828 until 1834. He was promoted to general in 1837.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Regiment of Foot</span> Military unit

The 92nd Regiment of Foot was a British Army infantry regiment, raised in 1794. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Gordon Highlanders in 1881.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot</span> Military unit

The 71st Regiment of Foot was a Highland regiment in the British Army, raised as the 73rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot in 1777. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot to become the 1st Battalion, Highland Light Infantry in 1881.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot</span> Military unit

The 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 54th Regiment of Foot to form the Dorsetshire Regiment in 1881.

The 61st Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1756. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 28th Regiment of Foot to form the Gloucestershire Regiment in 1881.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hope, 4th Earl of Hopetoun</span> Scottish politician and British Army officer

General John Hope, 4th Earl of Hopetoun,, known as The Honourable John Hope from 1781 to 1814 and as Lord Niddry from 1814 to 1816, was a Scottish politician and British Army officer.

The 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Northamptonshire Regiment in 1881.

The 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised in 1787. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot to form the Highland Light Infantry in 1881.

The 85th Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 53rd (Shropshire) Regiment of Foot to form the King's Shropshire Light Infantry in 1881.

General Sir John Fraser, GCH was a British Army officer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander George Woodford</span> British Army officer

Field Marshal Sir Alexander George Woodford, GCB, KCMG, was a British Army officer. After taking part in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland, he served in most of the battles of the Napoleonic Wars. During the Hundred Days he commanded the 2nd battalion of the Coldstream Guards at the Battle of Quatre Bras, the Battle of Waterloo and the storming of Cambrai. He went on to become lieutenant governor and brigade commander at Malta, lieutenant governor and brigade commander at Corfu and then commander of the British garrison on the Ionian Islands before being appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Thomas Jones</span> British officer in the Royal Engineers

Major General Sir John Thomas Jones, 1st Baronet was a British officer in the Royal Engineers who played a leading engineering role in a number of European campaigns of the early nineteenth century. Jones was revered by the Duke of Wellington and asked to advise on fortifications including the modernisation of the defences in Gibraltar. He was also notable as an English amateur cricketer who made six first-class appearances.

General Sir James Fergusson, was a British Army officer during the Napoleonic Wars and the Governor of Gibraltar from 1855 to 1859.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">94th Regiment of Foot</span> Military unit

The 94th Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised as the Scotch Brigade in October 1794. It was renumbered as the 94th Regiment of Foot in December 1802 and disbanded in December 1818. The regiment was reformed in December 1823 and served until 1881 when it amalgamated with the 88th Regiment of Foot to form the Connaught Rangers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Trigge</span> British army officer

General Sir Thomas Trigge was a British army officer who began his career in 1759 during the Seven Years' War, as an ensign in the 12th Regiment of Foot. He remained with the regiment for the next 36 years, and commanded it during the Great Siege of Gibraltar.

General Douglas may refer to:

Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Felix Smith, was an officer of the British Royal Engineers, of which he was colonel-commandant from 1856. He was acting Governor of Trinidad in 1828, 1830, and 1831; acting Governor of Demerara and of Berbice in 1833; acting Governor of St. Lucia in 1834; and acting Governor of Gibraltar in 1838. He received the Orders of Carlos III and of San Fernando of Spain in 1814, and the Ottoman Order of Glory in 1841.

References

  1. Feibel, Robert M. (1970). "Major-General Thomas Staunton St. Clair". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 48 (193): 29–34. ISSN   0037-9700. JSTOR   44229227.
  2. 1 2 3 4 St. Clair, Thomas Staunton (1834). A residence in the West Indies and America: Volume 2. Guyana: R Bentley.
  3. Alston, David (2021), Slaves and Highlanders: Silenced Histories of Scotland and the Caribbean, Edinburgh University Press, pp. 31 & 32, ISBN   9781474427319
  4. "Army Gold Medal for Nive awarded to Major-General Thomas Staunton St Clair, 1814". nam.ac.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  5. A List of the Officers of the Army and of the Corps of Royal Marines. Great Britain War Office. 1821. p. 38.
  6. "No. 19638". The London Gazette . 20 July 1838. p. 1660.

Further reading

A 1970 biography of St Clair here.