Henry Anderson Morshead (c.1774–1831), in earlier life Henry Anderson, was an Irish colonel of the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

Life

Born about 1774, he was the son of Colonel Henry Anderson of Fox Hall,

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision ...

. He entered the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

on 29 May 1790, and received a commission as second lieutenant in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

on 18 September 1792. Anderson served in the campaigns on the continent of Europe under

Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (Frederick Augustus; 16 August 1763 – 5 January 1827) was the second son of George III, King of the United Kingdom and Hanover, and his consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. A soldier by profess ...

in 1793–4, and was present at the

Battle of Famars The Battle of Famars was fought on 23 May 1793 during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. An Allied Austrian, Hanoverian, and British army under Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld defeated the French Army of the North le ...

23 May 1793, the

Siege of Valenciennes (1793) The siege of Valenciennes took place between 13 June and 28 July 1793, during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. The French garrison under Jean Henri Becays Ferrand was blockaded by part of the army of Prince Josias of Saxe- ...

in June and July, the

Siege of Dunkirk (1793) The siege of Dunkirk took place in the Autumn of 1793 when Kingdom of Great Britain, British, Electorate of Hanover, Hanoverian, Habsburg monarchy, Austrian, and Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel, Hesse-Kassel troops under the command of Prince ...

in August and September, and the battle of

Battle of Hondschoote The Battle of Hondschoote took place during the Flanders Campaign of the Campaigns of 1793 in the French Revolutionary Wars, Campaign of 1793 in the French Revolutionary Wars. It was fought during operations surrounding the Siege of Dunkirk (17 ...

8 September. He was then transferred, at his own request, to the

on 1 January 1794. He took part in the

Siege of Landrecies (1794) The siege of Landrecies (17 – 30 April 1794) was a military operation conducted by the (mobile army) of the Dutch States Army, commanded by the Hereditary Prince (assisted by auxiliary forces from the army of the Austrian empire), against the ...

Battle of Tournay (1794) The Battle of Tournay or Battle of Tournai or Battle of Pont-à-Chin (22 May 1794) saw Republican French forces led by Jean-Charles Pichegru attack Coalition forces under Emperor Francis II and Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After a ...

, and siege of

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

in November. On his return to England, Anderson was sent, in June 1795, to

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. He was promoted first lieutenant on 19 November 1796, and in May 1797 he embarked with two companies of

Royal Sappers and Miners The British Army during the Victorian era served through a period of great technological and social change. Queen Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, and died in 1901. Her long reign was marked by the steady expansion and consolidation of the Br ...

for

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

, West Indies. When the British left the island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

in 1798 he was attached to the staff of

Sir Thomas Maitland Lieutenant General The Right Honourable Sir Thomas Maitland (10 March 1760 – 17 January 1824) was a British soldier and British colonial governor. He also served as a Member of Parliament for Haddington from 1790 to 1796, 1802–06 and 1812 ...

, who became a lifelong. Back in England in November 1798, he was employed in the Thames division, and stationed at

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Ro ...

. He was promoted captain-lieutenant 18 April 1801, and was sent to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, and subsequently to Plymouth. Promoted captain 1 March 1805, Anderson in that year he assumed by royal license the additional surname of Morshead. In July 1807 he was sent to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, and three months later was appointed commanding Royal Engineer of the

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

expedition under Brigadier-general William Beresford. They sailed from

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

early in 1808, and in February took possession of the island. Morshead remained in Madeira until 1812, and on his return to England in November of that year was posted to the Plymouth division. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel 21 July 1813, and sent to Dublin; was appointed commanding Royal Engineer in

North Britain North Britain is a term which has been occasionally used, particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries, for either the northern part of Great Britain or Scotland, which occupies the northernmost third of the island. "North Britains" could also re ...

(March 1814), and in July 1815 was transferred as commanding Royal Engineer of the western district to Plymouth. There he remained for many years, and carried out major works for the ordnance and naval services in consultation with the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

and

Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville (14 March 1771 – 10 June 1851) was a British statesman, the son of Henry Dundas, the 1st Viscount. Dundas was the Member of Parliament for Hastings in 1794, Rye in 1796 and Midlothian in 1801. He was a ...

. On 29 July 1825 he was promoted colonel. In 1829 Morshead was appointed commanding Royal Engineer at

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. He died at

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

on 11 November 1831, while the acting governor. He was honoured with a public funeral, and was buried in the old saluting battery overlooking the grand harbour. Numerous plans by him went to the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

Family

Anderson married in 1800 Elizabeth, only daughter of Phillip Morshead, of Widey Court, Plymouth. They had 11 children. Their daughter Louisa married

George Leslie, 15th Earl of Rothes George William Evelyn Leslie, 15th Earl of Rothes (8 November 1809 – 10 March 1841) was the son of Henrietta Leslie, 14th Countess of Rothes and George Gwyther. He was christened on 14 December at Saint Mary-St Marylebone Road, St Marylebone, L ...

. The second son John Philip Anderson Morshead (died 1881) was father of Edmund Doidge Anderson Morshead. s:Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715-1886/Morshead, Edmund Doidge Anderson

Notes

External links

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Morshead, Henry Anderson 1831 deaths Royal Engineers officers Military personnel from County Limerick Year of birth uncertain