Anthony St Leger (British Army officer)
Major-General Anthony St Leger (1731/32 – 19 April 1786) was a successful soldier, a
Family
Born in February 1731 at Grangemellon, Kildare, Ireland, he was the fourth son of Sir John St Leger, who was a judge of the Court of Exchequer, and his second wife Lavinia, daughter of Kingsmill Pennefather of Cashel.[1] He was educated at Eton College. He attended Peterhouse,[2] before embarking on a career in the army. His brother Barry St. Leger was also a distinguished army officer. They belonged to the junior branch of a long-established landowning family from Cork: the head of the senior branch was Viscount Doneraile.[3]
Marriage
In 1761, St Leger married a Yorkshire woman, Margaret Wombwell. That same year he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 124th Regiment of Foot, but a year later the regiment disbanded, and St Leger took on the Park Hill estate in Firbeck, where he later bred and raced horses.
Career
From 1768 to 1774, St Leger sat as MP for Grimsby. Two years after leaving the
In 1779, St Leger re-entered the army as colonel of the
His last posting was in Ireland, by which time he was a major general.Death and legacy
St Leger died on 19 April 1786. He was buried in Saint Anne's Church, Dublin.
In addition to giving his name to the St Leger Stakes, the St Leger Arms
References
- ^ Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921 London John Murray 1926 pp. 192–3
- ^ "St Leger, Anthony (ST750A)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ Ball p. 83
- ^ Breen, Henry H (1844). St Lucia Historical Statistical and Descriptive. London. pp. 420–421.
- ^ "Saint Lucia Administration". British Empire. Retrieved 19 August 2021.