General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

David Colyear, 1st Earl of Portmore KT, PC ( – 2 January 1730) was a Scottish military officer and peer who served as the

governor of Gibraltar The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of ...

from 1713 to 1720.

Early life

He was the elder son of Sir Alexander Colyear, 1st Baronet, of the family of

Strowan Strowan is an inner city suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, located approximately 5 km north-west of Christchurch's Christchurch Central City, central business district. It had a population of 3,705 at the 2013 census. It is located b ...

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

, who settled in Holland, where he acquired a considerable property, and preferred the name of Colyear.

Career

Colyear was commissioned into the Army of William of Orange in 1674, becoming Lieutenant-General of the Scots Brigade, the three Scottish regiments which had been fighting in the service of the Netherlands for many decades. He led the troops ashore when William landed at Torbay on 5 November 1688 and then served in most of William's Irish campaigns, being made governor of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

in 1691. For his service in Ireland he was created Lord Portmore on 1 June 1699. In 1702, he obtained the rank of major-general, and on 27 February 1703 received the command of the Queen's Royal Regiment of Foot, later the 2nd Foot. On 13 April 1703, he was raised to the dignities of Earl of Portmore, Viscount of Milsington, and Lord Colyear. He took part in the

War of Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish ...

and participated in the Battle of Cádiz in 1702 and the

Battle of Vigo Bay The Battle of Vigo Bay, also known as the Battle of Rande (; ), was a naval engagement fought on 23 October 1702 during the opening years of the War of the Spanish Succession. The engagement followed an Anglo-Dutch attempt to capture the Spanish ...

later that year. In 1710, he was appointed

commander-in-chief of the forces in Scotland Scottish Command or Army Headquarters Scotland (from 1972) is a command of the British Army. History Early history Great Britain was divided into military districts on the outbreak of war with France in 1793. The Scottish District was comman ...

, and in January 1711 was raised to the rank of general. In 1712, he served under the

Duke of Ormonde The peerage title Earl of Ormond and the related titles Duke of Ormonde and Marquess of Ormonde have a long and complex history. An earldom of Ormond has been created three times in the Peerage of Ireland. History of Ormonde titles The earldom ...

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

, and the same year he was named a member of the privy council and made a

Knight of the Thistle The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland, who asserted that he was reviving an earlier order. The ...

. In August 1713, he was constituted

(gazetted November 1714), and in October of the same year he was chosen one of the sixteen representative peers of Scotland. When Gibraltar was besieged by the Spaniards in 1727, he embarked for that place to assume command, but on the approach of Admiral Wager with eleven ships the siege was raised.

Personal life

He married

Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester Catherine Colyear, ''suo jure'' Countess of Dorchester and Countess of Portmore (''née'' Sedley; 21 December 1657 – 26 October 1717), was an English noble and courtier. She was the mistress of King James II of England both before and after h ...

, daughter of the former Lady Catherine Savage (a daughter of

John Savage, 2nd Earl Rivers John Savage, 2nd Earl Rivers (25 February 1603 – 10 October 1654) was a wealthy English nobleman, politician and Royalist from Cheshire. Family A member of the Savage family, John was the first son of Thomas Savage, 1st Viscount Savage, and E ...

) and poet

Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet (March 1639 – 20 August 1701), was an English noble, dramatist and politician. He was principally remembered for his wit and profligacy.. Life He was the son of Sir John Sedley, 2nd Baronet, of Aylesford in ...

, of Southfleet, Kent. Catherine, a former mistress of James II, had been created Countess of Dorchester for life in 1686. Together, they were the parents of two sons: * David Colyear, Viscount Milsington (1698–1728/9), who married Bridget Noel, only daughter of Hon. John Noel (second son of

Baptist Noel, 3rd Viscount Campden Baptist Noel, 3rd Viscount Campden (1611 – 29 October 1682) was an English politician. He was Lord Lieutenant of Rutland, Custos Rotulorum of Rutland and the Member of Parliament for Rutland (UK Parliament constituency), Rutland. Early life B ...

) and Hon. Elizabeth Ingram (widow of Edward Ingram, 2nd Viscount Irvine, sister of Bennet Sherard, 1st Earl of Harborough, and eldest daughter of

Bennet Sherard, 2nd Baron Sherard Bennet Sherard, 2nd Baron Sherard Deputy Lieutenant, DL (''baptised'' 30 November 1621 – 15 January 1700) was a British politician and Irish peer. An influential landowner in Leicestershire and Rutland, he was returned to Parliament by the form ...

), in 1724. *

Charles Colyear, 2nd Earl of Portmore Charles Colyear, 2nd Earl of Portmore, KT (27 August 1700 – 5 July 1785), known as Lord Milsington to 1730, of Portmore House, Weybridge, Surrey, was a British Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1726 and 1730, when he succe ...

(1700–1785), who married Juliana Osborne, Duchess of Leeds, widow of Peregrine Osborne, 3rd Duke of Leeds, the daughter and heiress of Roger Hele, of Halewell. He died 2 January 1730 and was succeeded in the earldom by his second son,

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

Arms

References

;Attribution

External links

*
The Queen's Royal Surrey Regimental Association
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Portmore, David Colyear, 1st Earl British Army generals

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

1 Peers of Scotland created by William II Knights of the Thistle Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain British military personnel of the War of the Spanish Succession 1730 deaths Queen's Royal Regiment officers Royal Scots Greys officers Scottish representative peers 1650s births British people of Scottish descent