William Wemyss

General William Wemyss of Wemyss (9 April 1760 – 4 February 1822) was a Scottish soldier in the British Army and Member of Parliament.

William Wemyss
General William Wemyyss
Born9 April 1760
Died4 February 1822
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
RankGeneral
Battles/warsNapoleonic Wars
Major General William Wemyss c.1800

Family

He was the son of the Hon. James Wemyss, third son of the 5th Earl of Wemyss, and his wife Lady Elizabeth, only daughter of the 17th Earl of Sutherland.[1]

On 16 September 1788[2] he married Frances, daughter of Sir William Erskine, 1st Baronet. Their children included

Both sons married daughters of William Hay, 17th Earl of Erroll.[6]

Member of Parliament

From 1784 to 1787 Wemyss was MP for Sutherland, succeeding his father,[7] before sitting for Fife from 1787 to 1796 and again from 1807 to 1820.[8]

Military career

Captain in the Army by brevet, 1 July 1783[9] DAG in Scotland and Major, 18 November 1786[10] DAG in Scotland and Lieutenant-Colonel, 1 October 1791[11] Colonel, 22 August 1795[12]

He attained the rank of Major-General on 23 June 1798.[13] Action near Ardee[14]

Major-General William Wemyss raised the 93rd Highlanders in 1799 for his cousin the 16-year old Countess of Sutherland, Elizabeth Sutherland Leveson-Gower.  Men were recruited to the Regiment through a highly original form of conscription.  General Wemyss lined up the young men of each parish and invited them to drink from a large silver bound horn, having drunk his dram it was understood he consented to join the Regiment.[15]

On 16 September 1800 he was Colonel of a new Regiment of Infantry,[16][17] later the 93rd Regiment of Foot. On 30 October 1805 he was promoted to lieutenant-general. He was aide-de-camp to Major-General Sir William Erskine in the 1809 Walcheren Campaign and during the Peninsular War.[18] In 1810 it was announced that he would succeed Sir Hew Dalrymple as Colonel of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot, with General Needham becoming Colonel of the 93rd,[19] but the appointments did not take place[20] and Wemyss remained Colonel of the 93rd Foot until his death, when he was succeeded by Sir Thomas Hislop.[21]

He was promoted to full general on 4 June 1814.[22]

Death

Wemyss died on 4 February 1822.

References
  1. "Earl of Sutherland". Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  2. "Person Page". Thepeerage.com. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  3. "Earl of Rosslyn". Archived from the original on 8 October 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  4. "Clementina Wemyss". Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  5. E. Walford. "The county families of the United Kingdom". Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  6. "Earl of Erroll". Archived from the original on 17 July 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  7. "House of Commons: Constituencies beginning with "S"". Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  8. "House of Commons: Constituencies beginning with "F"". Archived from the original on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  9. "No. 12453". The London Gazette. 1 July 1783. p. 1.
  10. "No. 12804". The London Gazette. 18 November 1786. p. 552.
  11. "No. 13347". The London Gazette. 1 October 1791. p. 542.
  12. "No. 13806". The London Gazette. 22 August 1795. p. 860.
  13. "No. 15032". The London Gazette. 23 June 1798. p. 551.
  14. "No. 15042". The London Gazette. 21 July 1798. p. 680.
  15. "Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders - Regiment History, War & Military Records & Archives". www.forces-war-records.co.uk. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  16. "No. 15293". The London Gazette. 16 September 1800. p. 1055.
  17. "No. 15297". The London Gazette. 30 September 1800. p. 1118.
  18. Bromley, Janet; Bromley, David (2015). Wellington's Men Remembered Volume 2: A Register of Memorials to Soldiers who Fought in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo- Volume II: M to Z. Pen and Sword. p. 1828. ISBN 978-1-4738-5768-1.
  19. "No. 16381". The London Gazette. 26 June 1810. p. 922.
  20. "No. 16383". The London Gazette. 3 July 1810. p. 963.
  21. "No. 17791". The London Gazette. 16 February 1822. p. 282.
  22. "The Royal military calendar, or Army service and commission book. Containing the services and progress of promotion of the generals, lieutenant-generals, major-generals, colonels, lieutenant-colonels, and majors of the army, according to seniority: with details of the principal military events of the last century". Archive.org. 21 July 2010. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
James Wemyss		 Member of Parliament for Sutherland
1784–1787		 Succeeded by
James Grant
Preceded by
Robert Skene		 Member of Parliament for Fife
1787–1796		 Succeeded by
Sir William Erskine, Bt
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Robert Ferguson		 Member of Parliament for Fife
1807–1820		 Succeeded by
James Erskine Wemyss
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