John Meade (British Army officer)
Lieutenant-General Hon. John Meade CB (c. 1775 – 6 August 1849) was an Irish officer in the British Army. After leaving the professional army he served as a militia officer in Ireland, and sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom for twelve years before taking up a diplomatic post.
Early life and family
Born around 1775, Meade was the third son of
Military and political career
Meade joined the
Meade was briefly put up as a candidate for County Down for the 1797 election. His mother had inherited estates at Gilford and Rathfriland which gave the family a small electoral interest there under her management. After Meade's announcement, the anti-Unionist Lord Downshire and the Unionist Lord Londonderry, holders of the largest electoral interests in the county, agreed to combine against him and split the two county seats between them, avoiding the enormous expense of a contested election. In the face of this coalition, the Countess withdrew Meade's candidacy.[5]
He was promoted to a
In 1805, an electoral struggle broke out in Down, site of the Meade family's remaining estates. The sitting MP Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (son of Lord Londonderry) was a close confidant of the Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, and was obliged to seek re-election when he was appointed as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. Castlereagh had alienated the dowager Lady Downshire, the county's biggest landowner, who determined to contest the by-election with her own candidate. John's mother Lady Clanwilliam agreed to join with Lady Downshire in promoting his candidacy against Castlereagh.[5] The Londonderry and Downshire interests spent lavishly: the Downshires may have spent as much as £30,000 (equivalent to £2.59 million in 2024[10]) on the by-election in July 1805, from which Meade emerged victorious, giving Lady Downshire control of both the county's seats.
In the Commons, Meade voted with the opposition until 1812. He took leave from Parliament to fight in the
On 2 October 1816, he married Urania Caroline (died November 1851), the daughter of Edward Ward, by whom he had four sons.[1]
- Capt. John Meade (1824–bef. 1894?)
- Maj. Richard Raphael Meade (1826–1873), married and left children
- Henry Meade (d. 13 July 1864)
- Edward Meade (1830 – 16 January 1882)
Diplomat
Meade resigned his seat in 1817 to make way for
Notes
- ^ The Royal Military Calendar claims that he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel in the 18th Dragoons, but this is contradicted by contemporary gazettings.
References
- ^ a b c Jupp, P. J. (1986). "MEADE, Hon. John (?1775-1849), of Gill Hall, co. Down.". In Thorne, R. G. (ed.). The House of Commons 1790-1820. The History of Parliament Trust.
- ^ "No. 13749". The London Gazette. 3 February 1795. p. 124.
- ^ "No. 13737". The London Gazette. 30 January 1795. p. 11.
- ^ Elers, George (1903). Memoirs of George Elers, captain in the 12th Regiment of foot (1777-1842). New York: D. Appleton & Co. pp. 45–46.
- ^ a b Malcolmson, Anthony (1999). "A Woman Scorned?: Theodosia, Countess of Clanwilliam (1743-1817)". Ulster Genealogical Review: 12–13, 16, 18.
- ^ "No. 15172". The London Gazette. 24 August 1799. p. 846.
- ^ "No. 15373". The London Gazette. 6 June 1801. p. 636.
- ^ "No. 15760". The London Gazette. 4 December 1804. p. 1476.
- ^ "No. 15792". The London Gazette. 26 March 1805. p. 390.
- ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ "No. 17061". The London Gazette. 16 September 1815. p. 878.
- ^ "No. 17505". The London Gazette. 12 August 1819. p. 1442.
- ^ "No. 19456". The London Gazette. 10 January 1837. p. 63.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by John Meade
