George Carpenter, 1st Baron Carpenter
Governor of Menorca | |
---|---|
In office 1716–1718 | |
Commander-in-Chief, Scotland | |
In office 1716–1724 | |
Member of Parliament for Whitchurch | |
In office 1715–1722 | |
Member of Parliament for Newtownards (Parliament of Ireland) | |
In office 1703–1705 | |
Personal details | |
Born | 10 February 1657 Ocle Pychard, Herefordshire, England |
Died | 10 February 1731 Longwood House, Hampshire, England, UK[1] | (aged 74)
Resting place | Owslebury |
Political party | Whig |
Spouse | Alice Margetson (1693–1731 †) |
Children | George (1697–1749); Alicia (1705–1714?) |
Occupation | Soldier and politician |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Great Britain |
Branch/service | Cavalry |
Years of service | 1673–1722 |
Rank | Lieutenant-General |
Unit | Colonel, 3rd The King's Own Hussars 1703–1732 |
Battles/wars | |
Lieutenant-General George Carpenter, 1st Baron Carpenter (10 February 1657 – 10 February 1731) was a British Army officer, Whig politician and peer. He served as Commander-in-Chief, Scotland from 1716 to 1724 and as a member of parliament from 1715 to 1727.
CaCommissioned into the English Army in 1685, Carpenter served in the Williamite War in Ireland, before being transferred to Flanders in 1692 for service in the Nine Years' War. A talented cavalry officer, he held senior positions in the Grand Alliance expeditionary force which fought in the Iberian Peninsula during the War of the Spanish Succession. Wounded several times, he was captured at the Battle of Brihuega in 1710, then later exchanged in a prisoner exchange.
In the 1715 British general election, he was elected to Parliament as a Whig MP for Whitchurch; although nominated as British envoy to Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, the appointment was cancelled when the Jacobite rising of 1715 began, and as commander of government forces in Northern England, he played a major role in ending the rebellion in England. In 1719, he was raised to the peerage of Ireland; as holder of an Irish peerage, he remained an MP and in December 1722 was elected for Westminster, retaining the seat until he retired in 1727. He died in February 1732, four months after his wife Alice and was succeeded by their only son, George Carpenter, 2nd Baron Carpenter.
Personal details
George Carpenter was born on 10 February 1657 in Ocle Pychard, Herefordshire, the youngest of seven children. His parents were Warncombe and Eleanor Carpenter, whose family had owned property in the county for over 400 years, the main estate being Homme near Dilwyn.[2]
In January 1694, Carpenter married Alice Margetson (1660–1731), daughter of the Irish peer William Caulfeild, Viscount Charlemont and wealthy widow of John Margetson, who died at the first Siege of Limerick in 1690. They had two children, George Carpenter, 2nd Baron Carpenter (1697–1749), and Alicia (c. 1705 – bef. 1714).[3]
Career; 1671 to 1714
In 1671, Carpenter was appointed
When James was deposed by
The war in Ireland ended with the October 1691
During the War of the Spanish Succession in 1704, Carpenter was appointed quartermaster and general of cavalry in the expeditionary force led by the Earl of Peterborough, which was sent to Spain to support the Habsburg candidate, Archduke Charles. In March 1707, Peterborough was recalled to England and replaced by the Earl of Galway, who suffered a serious defeat by Bourbon-Spanish forces at Almansa in April. Most of the Allied infantry was captured, but despite being wounded, Carpenter's repeated cavalry charges saved the guns and baggage train.[9]
Career; post-1714
When George I succeeded Queen Anne in 1714, Carpenter was nominated Envoy to Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, but the Jacobite rising of 1715 began before he was able to take up this position. Given command of government forces in Northern England, he prevented the Jacobites from seizing Newcastle, forcing them south to Preston, where they were attacked on 13 November by troops under Charles Wills. The next day, he was joined by Carpenter and with no possibility of escape, the Jacobites surrendered.[12]
Carpenter and Wills had allegedly previously clashed in Spain; despite being the senior officer, Carpenter felt Wills had taken most of the credit for this victory, while his role had been ignored. The two nearly came to blows, before the matter was smoothed over by
On 29 May 1719, he was created 'Baron Carpenter of Killaghy'; since this was an
Carpenter retired from politics at the 1727 election; he died on 10 February 1732, four months after his wife, and was buried at St Andrew's church, Owslebury in Hampshire.[14]
Carpenter Coat of arms
The coat of arms chosen by Carpenter when created a baron is described as follows: "Paly of six, argent and gules, on a chevron azure, 3 cross crosslets or." Crest, on a wreath a globe in a frame all or. Supporters, two horses, party-perfess, embattled argent and gules. Motto: "Per Acuta Belli" (Through the Asperities of War).[15]
References
- ^ Laird.
- ^ Watkins & Cowell 2015, p. 36.
- ^ a b c Stephens 2004.
- ^ Dalton 1894, p. 46.
- ^ Dalton 1894, p. 122.
- ^ Richards 1890, pp. 26–27.
- ^ Dalton 1896, p. 225.
- ^ a b Watson 1970.
- ^ Rubio Campillo 2010, p. 105.
- ^ Dalton 1904, pp. xxiii, 385.
- ^ Carpenter 1737, pp. 316–317.
- ^ Lenman 1980, pp. 124–125.
- ^ Cruickshanks 1970.
- ^ Historic England & 1095925.
- ^ "Lot 361 (The Lord Constantine Collection, 12th October 2007". Lyon and Turnbull. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
Sources
- Carpenter, Lord George (1737). "An Account of the Wound, Which the Late Lord Carpenter Received at Brihuega; Whereby a Bullet Remained Near His Gullet for a Year Wanting a Few Days; Communicated to the Royal Society by His Son the Right Honourable George Lord Carpenter, F. R. S. &c". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. 40: 316. Bibcode:1737RSPT...40..316C. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- Cruickshanks, Eveline (1970). Westminster in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754. Boydell & Brewer. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
- Dalton, Charles (1894). English army lists and commission registers, 1661-1714, Volume II 1685-1689. Eyre & Spottiswoode.
- Dalton, Charles (1896). English army lists and commission registers, 1661-1714, Volume III 1689-1694. Eyre & Spottiswoode.
- Dalton, Charles (1904). English army lists and commission registers, 1661-1714, Volume VI 1707-1714. Eyre & Spottiswoode.
- Historic England. "Church of St Andrew (1095925)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- Laird, Ian. "Longwood House". Lost Heritage. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- Lenman, Bruce (1980). The Jacobite Risings in Britain, 1689-1746. Methuen. ISBN 0413396509.
- Richards, Walter (1890). Her Majesty's Army, Volume I. Virtue & Co.
- Rubio Campillo, Xavier (2010). God save Catalonia! England's intervention in Catalonia during the War of the Spanish Succession (PDF). Grup de Recerca de la Universitat de Barcelona. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- Stephens, HM (2004). "Carpenter, George, first Baron Carpenter of Killaghy". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4726. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Watkins, C; Cowell, Ben (2015). Uvedale Price (1747-1829): Decoding the Picturesque. Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1783270231.
- Watson, Paula (1970). CARPENTER, George (1657-1732), of Longwood House, Hants in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754. Boydell & Brewer. Retrieved 24 December 2020.