Frederick St John (British Army officer)

Frederick St John
Born 20 December 1765
Died 19 November 1844
Allegiance United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Service/branch British Army
Years of service 1779–1844
Rank General
Battles/wars


Relations Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke (father)
Arms of St John: Argent, on a chief gules two mullets or

The Hon. Frederick St John (20 December 1765 — 19 November 1844[1]) was an officer of the British Army and a politician.[2] He rose to the rank of general during his career and saw service during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and the Second Anglo-Maratha War. He also sat briefly for the constituency of Oxford.

Family and early life

Frederick St John was born the second son of Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke and Lady Diana Beauclerk.[1] St John enlisted in the Army as an ensign in the 85th Regiment of Foot in 1779, at the age of 14.[3] He served in the Indies and the Channel Islands until 1783.[2] He was promoted to lieutenant in 1780, and then became a captain in the 95th Regiment of Foot in 1781. This was followed by a promotion to be major in the 104th Regiment of Foot in 1783. In parallel to his military career, he socialised in exclusive gentlemen's clubs: he joined Brooks's on 17 May 1783, and the Whig Club on 6 March 1787.[2] He continued to rise through the ranks, becoming a lieutenant-colonel in the 2nd Regiment of Foot in 1791, a colonel in 1795, and being promoted to major-general in 1798.

French Revolutionary Wars

St John served in Ireland in 1798 as the lieutenant of General Gerard Lake, and followed him to India when he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in the colony.[2] In 1800, St John took passage with his wife, Arabella Craven, on the Queen, which caught fire and was destroyed while in harbour in Salvador.[4] St John and his wife then joined the East Indiaman Kent to complete the journey. On 7 October, Kent was captured by the French privateer Confiance, under Robert Surcouf. St John was taken prisoner and exchanged.[4]

St John went on to take part in the Battle of Delhi in 1803, and in the siege of Agra. He was promoted to lieutenant-general in 1805, and general in 1814.

Political career

St John was elected to Parliament in 1818 as member for Oxford and represented the constituency until his defeat at the 1820 general election two years later.[2]

Family and issue

St John married three times. His first wife was Lady Mary Kerr, the daughter of William Kerr, 5th Marquess of Lothian, whom he married on 8 December 1788.[1] They had one son:

Lady Mary died the day after her son's birth.[5]

On 6 April 1793, St John married Arabella Craven (died 9 June 1819), daughter of William Craven, 6th Baron Craven and Elizabeth Craven. They had five sons and four daughters:[5]

On 14 November 1821, he married Caroline Parsons. They had two sons together:[5]

St John died on 19 November 1844 at the age of 78.[1] He was by then the second most senior general in the British Army.[2][3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 The Peerage
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820, ed. R. Thorne, 1986
  3. 1 2 Good Gentlewoman
  4. 1 2 Gentleman's Magazine, 8 October 1800; quoted in Laughton, p.438-439
  5. 1 2 3 Debrett, John (1840). Debrett's Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland. p. 90.
  6. 1 2 Lodge, Edmund (1848). The Peerage of the British Empire. pp. 66–67.

Bibliography

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
John Atkyns-Wright
John Ingram Lockhart		 Member of Parliament for Oxford
1818–1820
With: John Atkyns-Wright		 Succeeded by
Charles Wetherell
John Ingram Lockhart
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