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Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey

Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey KG, GCB, GCH, PC (17 May 1768 – 29 April 1854), styled Lord Paget between 1784 and 1812 and known as the Earl of Uxbridge between 1812 and 1815, was a British Army officer and politician. After serving as a member of parliament for Carnarvon and then for Milborne Port, he took part in the Flanders Campaign and then commanded the cavalry for Sir John Moore's army in Spain during the Peninsular War; his cavalry showed distinct superiority over their French counterparts at the Battle of Sahagún and at the Battle of Benavente, where he defeated the elite chasseurs of the French Imperial Guard. During the Hundred Days he led the charge of the heavy cavalry against Comte d'Erlon's column at the Battle of Waterloo. At the end of the battle, he lost part of one leg to a cannonball. In later life, he served twice as Master-General of the Ordnance and twice as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

Field Marshal The Most Honourable
The Marquess of Anglesey
KG GCB GCH PC
Portrait by William Salter, c. 1830s
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
In office
27 February 1828 – 22 January 1829
MonarchGeorge IV
Prime MinisterThe Duke of Wellington
Preceded byThe Marquess Wellesley
Succeeded byThe Duke of Northumberland
In office
4 December 1830 – 12 September 1833
MonarchWilliam IV
Prime MinisterThe Earl Grey
Preceded byThe Duke of Northumberland
Succeeded byThe Marquess Wellesley
Personal details
Born
Henry William Bayley

17 May 1768 (1768-05-17)
London
Died29 April 1854(1854-04-29) (aged 85)
Uxbridge House, London
Resting placeLichfield Cathedral
NationalityBritish
Political partyWhig
Tory
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1795; div. 1810)​
Children18
Parents
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford
Military service
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Branch/serviceBritish Army
Years of service1793–1854
RankField Marshal
Commands7th Light Dragoons
Battles/wars
AwardsKnight of the Order of the Garter
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order

Background, education and politics

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He was born Henry Bayley, the eldest son of Henry Bayley-Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge and his wife Jane (née Champagné), daughter of the Very Reverend Arthur Champagné, Dean of Clonmacnoise, Ireland.[1] His father assumed the surname Paget in 1770. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford.[2][3]

Paget entered parliament at the 1790 general election as member for Carnarvon,[3][4] a seat he held until the 1796 general election when his brother Edward was elected unopposed in his place.[4] He then represented Milborne Port from 1796 until he resigned his seat in 1804 by appointment as Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds,[5] and again from the 1806 election[6] to January 1810, when he took the Chiltern Hundreds again.[7]

Military career

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The Marquess of Anglesey's Column at Llanfairpwllgwyngyll

At the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, Paget raised a regiment of Staffordshire volunteers and was given the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel-commandant in December 1793.[2][8] As the 80th Regiment of Foot, the unit took part in the Flanders Campaign of 1794 under Paget's command.[3] He was formally commissioned into the British Army as a lieutenant in the 7th Regiment of Foot on 14 April 1795[9] and received rapid promotion, first to captain in the 23rd Regiment of Foot, also on 14 April 1795,[10] then to major in the 65th Regiment of Foot, on 19 May 1795[11] and then to lieutenant-colonel in the 80th Regiment of Foot on 30 May 1795.[12] He transferred to the command of the 16th Light Dragoons on 15 June 1795.[13] Promoted to colonel on 3 May 1796,[14] he was given command of the 7th Light Dragoons on 6 April 1797.[15] He commanded a cavalry brigade at the Battle of Castricum in October 1799 during the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland.[16]

 
Lord Paget by John Hoppner, 1798

Paget was promoted to major-general on 29 April 1802 and lieutenant-general on 25 April 1808.[17] He commanded the cavalry for Sir John Moore's army in Spain; his cavalry showed distinct superiority over their French counterparts at the Battle of Sahagún in December 1808, where his men captured two French lieutenant colonels and so mauled the French chasseurs that they ceased to exist as a viable regiment.[18] He also commanded the cavalry at the Battle of Benavente later in December 1808, where he defeated the elite chasseurs of the French Imperial Guard, and then commanded the cavalry again during the Retreat to Corunna in January 1809.[16] This was his last service in the Peninsular War, because his liaison with Lady Charlotte, the wife of Henry Wellesley, afterwards Lord Cowley, made it impossible subsequently for him to serve with Wellington, Wellesley's brother.[2][16] His only war service from 1809 to 1815 was in the disastrous Walcheren expedition in 1809,[2] during which he commanded an infantry division.[16] In 1810 he was divorced and then married Lady Charlotte, who had been divorced from her husband around the same time.[16] He inherited the title of Earl of Uxbridge on his father's death in March 1812 and was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 4 January 1815.[19]

Waterloo

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During the Hundred Days he was appointed cavalry commander in Belgium, under the still resentful eye of Wellington.[16] He fought at the Battle of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815 and at the Battle of Waterloo two days later, when he led the spectacular charge of the British heavy cavalry against Comte d'Erlon's column which checked and in part routed the French Army.[20]

One of the last cannon shots fired that day hit Paget in the right leg, necessitating its amputation.[16] According to anecdote, he was close to Wellington when his leg was hit, and exclaimed, "By God, sir, I've lost my leg!" – to which Wellington replied, "By God, sir, so you have!"[21] The earliest account is that given in the diary of J. W. Croker on 8 December 1818, quoting Horace Seymour who was next to Uxbridge when he was hit and helped move the wounded general from the field: "Rode with Horace Seymour. He was next to Lord Uxbridge when he was shot; he cried out: “I have got it at last.” And the Duke of Wellington only replied: “No? Have you, by God?""[22] According to his aide-de-camp, Thomas Wildman, during the amputation Paget smiled and said, "I have had a pretty long run. I have been a beau these 47 years and it would not be fair to cut the young men out any longer."[21]

'Lord Uxbridge's leg' became a tourist attraction in the village of Waterloo in Belgium, to which it had been removed and where it was later interred.[23] Paget had an articulated artificial limb fitted. The prosthetic legs he had commissioned (from one James Potts) which had movable joints became known as 'Anglesey legs' and he is credited with popularising the style. He became known as 'One-Leg'.[24]

Paget was created Marquess of Anglesey on 4 July 1815.[16] A 27-metre (89 ft) high monument to his heroism (designed by Thomas Harrison) was erected at Llanfairpwllgwyngyll on Anglesey, close to Paget's country retreat at Plas Newydd, in 1816.[25] He was also appointed a Knight of the Garter on 13 March 1818[26] and promoted to full general on 12 August 1819.[27]

Social life

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Paget was the commodore of the Royal Irish Yacht Club, based at Sackville Street, Dublin (now O'Connell Street) in 1832 at the time when he served as lord-lieutenant of Ireland.[28]

Later career

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Paget's support of the proceedings against Queen Caroline, alleging her infidelity, made him for a time unpopular, and when he was on one occasion beset by a crowd, who compelled him to shout "The Queen!", he added the wish, "May all your wives be like her".[1][29] At the coronation of George IV in July 1821, Paget acted as Lord High Steward of England.[29][30] He was also given the additional honour of captain of Cowes Castle on 25 March 1826.[31] In April 1827, he became a member of the Canningite Government, taking the post of Master-General of the Ordnance.[32] Under the Wellington ministry, he accepted the appointment of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in February 1828.[33]

In December 1828, Paget addressed a letter to Patrick Curtis, the Roman Catholic primate of Ireland, stating his belief in the need for Catholic emancipation, which led to his recall by the government; on the formation of Earl Grey's administration in November 1830, he again became Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.[29][16] In this capacity he introduced state-aided education for 400,000 children.[1] In July 1833, the ministry resigned over the Irish question. Still an impressive horseman even with a cork leg, George Whyte-Melville recalled the crowds that formed to cheer Paget as his well-ridden hack wended the London route from Piccadilly into Albemarle Street.[34] Paget spent the following thirteen years out of office, then joined Lord John Russell's administration as Master-General of the Ordnance in July 1846.[35] He was promoted to field-marshal on 9 November 1846[36] and, having been appointed Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire on 31 January 1849,[37] he finally retired from the Government in March 1852.[38]

Paget also served as honorary colonel of the 7th Light Dragoons[39] and later of the Royal Horse Guards.[40] He died of a stroke at Uxbridge House in Burlington Gardens on 29 April 1854 and was buried at Lichfield Cathedral, where a monument is erected to his honour.[41] He was succeeded by his eldest son from his first marriage, Henry.[42]

Marriage and issue

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Lady Caroline Villiers, (Lady Paget and later Duchess of Argyll), with her eldest son, Henry, by John Hoppner, 1800

Paget was first married on 5 July 1795 in London to Lady Caroline Elizabeth Villiers (16 December 1774 – 16 June 1835), daughter of George Bussy Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey and Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey. They had eight children:[42]

While Lady Paget recovered from the birth of their last child, Lord Paget

"paid her the kindest affectionate attentions yet from that period his love and affection for her as a wife seem to have been entirely estranged. While his Lordship lived in the same house sat at the same table and frequented the same Company with his wife he treated her person with the coldest indifference and neglect withholding all Connubial intercourse with her and constantly sleeping in a different room from her."[43]

Paget had in fact begun an affair with Lady Charlotte Wellesley (1781–1853), the wife of Henry Wellesley (brother of the Duke of Wellington)[44] and daughter of Charles Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan and Mary Churchill.

In November 1808, Paget went to Spain to fight in the Peninsular War, but on his return he and Lady Charlotte resumed their affair, and in March 1809 they scandalously eloped and began living together. On 28 March 1809, Lady Charlotte's brother, Henry Cadogan, challenged Paget to a duel:

"My Lord, I hereby request you to name a time and place where I may meet you, to obtain satisfaction for the injury done myself and my whole family by your conduct to my sister. I have to add that the time must be as early as possible, and the place not in the immediate neighbourhood of London, as it is by concealment alone that I am able to evade the Police."[45]

The contest took place on Wimbledon Common on the morning of 30 May with Hussey Vivian as Lord Paget's second and Captain McKenzie as Cadogan's. Both men discharged their pistols, honour was satisfied and the parties left the field uninjured.[46] Henry Wellesley had his marriage dissolved by private act of parliament in 1810 and sued Lord Paget for damages.[43]

By this time, Caroline, Lady Paget, had fallen in love with the Duke of Argyll, and was equally eager to divorce Lord Paget. However, she was unable to obtain a divorce in England,[43] as only husbands could seek a bill of divorce on the grounds of adultery alone; for wives, the adultery was required to be compounded by "life-threatening cruelty."[47]

The Pagets took advantage of Scots law to get an expedited divorce. Lord Paget stayed together at hotels in Edinburgh and Perthshire, where they were witnessed in bed together by chambermaids. However, Lady Charlotte had been identified by name she would not have been able to marry Lord Paget under Scottish law, and she "positively refus'd letting Lord Paget domiciliate with any other woman", so the couple concealed her identity so the witnesses could attest they had no idea of the identity of the woman whom they saw with Lord Paget. It was said she "eat, drank, and slept in a black veil".[43]

The divorce was granted in Scotland, and Lord Paget and (the already pregnant) Lady Charlotte married in Edinburgh on 15 November 1810. They had 10 children, of whom six survived infancy:[42]

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21112. Retrieved 22 February 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ a b c d Chisholm 1911, p. 16.
  3. ^ a b c Heathcote, p. 235
  4. ^ a b Stooks Smith, p. 594
  5. ^ "No. 15711". The London Gazette. 16 June 1804. p. 744.
  6. ^ "No. 15978". The London Gazette. 25 November 1806. p. 1538.
  7. ^ "No. 16339". The London Gazette. 3 February 1810. p. 178.
  8. ^ "No. 13604". The London Gazette. 17 December 1793. p. 1129.
  9. ^ "No. 13769". The London Gazette. 11 April 1795. p. 329.
  10. ^ "No. 13769". The London Gazette. 11 April 1795. p. 330.
  11. ^ "No. 13780". The London Gazette. 19 May 1795. p. 499.
  12. ^ "No. 13782". The London Gazette. 26 May 1795. p. 537.
  13. ^ "No. 13788". The London Gazette. 16 June 1795. p. 627.
  14. ^ "No. 13892". The London Gazette. 14 May 1796. p. 460.
  15. ^ "No. 13999". The London Gazette. 4 April 1797. p. 316.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i Heathcote, p. 236
  17. ^ "No. 16142". The London Gazette. 3 May 1808. p. 622.
  18. ^ Fletcher, p. 95
  19. ^ "No. 16972". The London Gazette. 4 January 1815. p. 18.
  20. ^ Barbero, pp. 85–187
  21. ^ a b "Obituary: The 7th Marquis of Anglesey". The Telegraph. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  22. ^ A. McK. Annand, "COLONEL SIR HORACE SEYMOUR, K.C.H., M.P. (1791-1851)" in Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Vol. 47, No. 190 (Summer 1969), pp. 86-88
  23. ^ BBC History Magazine, vol. 3, no. 6, June 2002
  24. ^ Warne, Vanessa (2008). "Artificial Leg". Victorian Review. 34 (1): 29–33. doi:10.1353/vcr.2008.0020. ISSN 1923-3280. S2CID 201782008.
  25. ^ "The Marquess of Anglesey's Column & Nelson's Monument". Places to visit. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  26. ^ "No. 17340". The London Gazette. 14 March 1818. p. 473.
  27. ^ "No. 17505". The London Gazette. 12 August 1819. p. 1441.
  28. ^ "Charles Halliday pamphlets". Royal Irish Academy Library. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  29. ^ a b c Chisholm 1911, p. 17.
  30. ^ "No. 17732". The London Gazette. 3 August 1821. p. 1605.
  31. ^ "No. 18240". The London Gazette. 22 April 1826. p. 936.
  32. ^ "No. 18357". The London Gazette. 1 May 1827. p. 961.
  33. ^ "No. 18447". The London Gazette. 29 February 1828. p. 409.
  34. ^ Riding Recollections, 5th ed. by G. J. Whyte-Melville. Pages 90-91. Accessed 5 September 2022.
  35. ^ "No. 20621". The London Gazette. 10 July 1846. p. 2534.
  36. ^ "No. 20660". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 10 November 1846. p. 3987.
  37. ^ "No. 20941". The London Gazette. 2 February 1849. p. 314.
  38. ^ Heathcote, p. 237
  39. ^ "No. 15366". The London Gazette. 16 May 1801. p. 550.
  40. ^ "No. 20180". The London Gazette. 23 December 1842. p. 3820.
  41. ^ Paget, p. 35
  42. ^ a b c G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume III, page 208. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.
  43. ^ a b c d Leneman, Leah (5 August 2019). Alienated Affections: Divorce and Separation in Scotland 1684-1830. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 220–221. ISBN 978-1-4744-7020-9. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  44. ^ Darren Devine (29 June 2015). "How Heny Paget's bravery in the Battle of Waterloo took him from earl to Marquess of Anglesey". WalesOnline. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  45. ^ The Marquess of Anglesey (1990). One Leg: The Life and Letters of Henry William Paget, First Marquess of Anglesey, K.G. 1768–1854. Pen and Sword. p. 101. ISBN 978-1-4738-1689-3.
  46. ^ Sir Walter Scott (1811). The Edinburgh Annual Register. John Ballantyne and Company. p. 151.
  47. ^ "Obtaining a divorce". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  48. ^ "Births". London Chronicle. 8 May 1815. p. 7. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  49. ^ Westminster, London, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1812–1910
  50. ^ Lady Cadogan's Illustrated Games of Patience or Solitaire (1914).
  51. ^ Westminster, London, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1812––1910
  52. ^ Hampshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813–1921

Sources

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Caricature of Henry William Paget

Attribution:

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Henry William Paget.
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Carnarvon
1790–1796 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Milborne Port
1796–1800
With: Robert Ainslie 		Succeeded by
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Parliament of Great Britain
 Member of Parliament for Milborne Port
1801–1804
With: Robert Ainslie 1801–1804
Hugh Leycester 1802–1804 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Milborne Port
1806–1810
With: Hugh Leycester 		Succeeded by
Military offices
Preceded by Colonel of the 7th (or Queen's Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons
1801–1842 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards (The Blues)
1842–1854 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Master-General of the Ordnance
1827–1828 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
1828–1829 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
1830–1833 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Master-General of the Ordnance
1846–1852 		Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey
1812–1854 		Succeeded by
Vice-Admiral of North Wales
and Carmarthenshire
1812–1854 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire
1849–1854 		Succeeded by
Court offices
Vacant
Title last held by
The Lord Erskine 		Lord High Steward
1821 		Vacant
Title next held by
The Duke of Hamilton
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Marquess of Anglesey
1815–1854 		Succeeded by
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by Earl of Uxbridge
2nd creation
1812–1854 		Succeeded by
Peerage of England
Preceded by Baron Paget
(descended by acceleration)
1812–1832 		Succeeded by
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