General Hon. John Chapple Norton (2 April 1746 – 19 March 1818) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer who served in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and who later became a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

Early life

John Chapple Norton was born on 2 April 1746 to

Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley, PC (23 June 1716 – 1 January 1789) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1756 to 1782 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Grantley. Life Norton was the eldest ...

and Grace Chapple.

Military career

He joined the British army, becoming a captain in the

19th Foot 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...

in 1763. After serving with the regiment in Gibraltar he transferred to the

Royal Regiment of Foot The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment line infantry, of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of England ...

in 1769, before being appointed a lieutenant-colonel in the

2nd Foot Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

. He served with the Foot Guards in North America during the War of Independence and was involved in several of the actions there, including leading the attack on Young's House. In 1795 he was rewarded with the colonelcy of the 81st Regiment of Foot and in 1797, he was promoted lieutenant-general and transferred to the colonelcy of the

56th Foot The 56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment in the British Army, active from 1755 to 1881. It was originally raised in Northumbria as the 58th Regiment, and renumbered the 56th the following year when two senior regiments we ...

. In 1802 he was made general and soon afterwards Governor of Charlemont, the Irish fort.

Political career

He represented

, Surrey as their Member of Parliament from 1784 to 1790, from 1796 to 1806 and from 1807 to 1812.

Later life and death

He died unmarried at the family seat of Wonersh Park in Surrey in 1818.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Chapple 1746 births 1818 deaths Younger sons of barons 56th Regiment of Foot officers 81st Regiment of Foot officers British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War British Army generals Green Howards officers Coldstream Guards officers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1807–1812