Colonel Henry Cornewall (c. 1654 – 22 February 1717) was an English soldier, courtier and Member of Parliament.

Early life

He was born the eldest son of Edward Cornewall of

Moccas Court Moccas Court is an 18th-century country house which sits in sloping grounds overlooking the River Wye north of the village of Moccas, Herefordshire, England. It is now a luxury guest house and function venue. The house was built in 1775–81 by t ...

and Frances ( Pye) Vaughan, daughter of Sir Walter Pye and the widow of Henry Vaughan of Moccas Court and Bredwardine. From his mother's first marriage, he had an elder half-brother,

Roger Vaughan Roger William Bede Vaughan (9 January 1834 – 18 August 1883) was an English Benedictine monk of Downside Abbey and the second Roman Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Australia from 1877 to 1883. Biography Early life Vaughan was born near Ro ...

, a courtier and MP for Hereford. He succeeded his father in 1709.

Career

In 1685 he raised a regiment of foot, which later became the

9th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

. He resigned this command following the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

, as he personally opposed

William III of England William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, Zeeland, Lordship of Utrecht, Utrec ...

taking the throne. He was replaced by Colonel John Cunningham who led the regiment to Ireland to try and relieve the

Siege of Derry The siege of Derry in 1689 was the first major event in the Williamite War in Ireland. The siege was preceded by a first attempt against the town by Jacobite forces on 7 December 1688 that was foiled when 13 apprentices shut the gates ...

. In the House of Commons, he represented

Weobley Weobley ( ) is an ancient settlement and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. Formerly a market town, the market is long defunct and the settlement is today promoted as one of the county's black and white villages owing to its abundance of ...

from 1685 to 1689,

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

from 1689 to 1695,

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

from 1698 to 1701 and Weobley again in 1701, from 1702 to 1708, and from 1710 to 1713.

Personal life

He married twice. Firstly to Margarita Laurentia Huyssen of

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

, the wealthy heiress of Laurentius Huyssen Lord of Welden, whom he married on 11 October 1683. The couple had two children. * Henry Cornewall (1685–1756), General * William Henry Cornewall (died 1688, aged four months) Margarita died on 26 April 1692 and was buried at the

Dutch Church, Austin Friars The Dutch Church, Austin Friars ( nl, Nederlandse Kerk Londen), is a reformed church in the Broad Street Ward, in the City of London. Located on the site of the 13th-century Augustinian friary, the original building granted to Protestant refuge ...

. Henry's second wife was Susanna, the daughter and coheir of Sir John Williams, whom he married on 27 April 1695. The couple had three children: *

Velters Cornewall Velters Cornewall (1697 – 3 April 1768) was an English politician. He was born in 1697, the second surviving son of Henry Cornewall, and the first with his second wife Susanna. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated ...

(1697–1768), MP for

James Cornewall Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cornewall (1698 – 11 February 1744) was an officer in the British Royal Navy who became a national hero following his death at the Battle of Toulon (1744), Battle of Toulon in 1744. His monument in Westminste ...

(1698–1744), Captain in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, killed at the Battle of Toulon * Mary Cornewall (d. 1741), married to Hon. Henry Berkeley Cornewall died on 22 February 1717, and was buried six days later in the South aisle of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

. He left his Radnor estates to his eldest son and property in Herefordshire (Moccas Hall and Bredwardine) to Velters.

References

1650s births 1717 deaths English MPs 1685–1687 English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1710–1713 Burials at Westminster Abbey Royal Norfolk Regiment officers {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub