General the Honourable Henry St John (1738 – 3 April 1818) was a senior British Army officer and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

from 1768 to 1784 and briefly in 1802. He also served as a Groom of the Bedchamber.

Early life

He was the younger son of

John St John, 2nd Viscount St John John St John (3 May 1702 – 1748) of Lydiard Tregoze, Wiltshire, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1727 to 1734. St John was the second surviving son of Henry St John, 1st Viscount St John MP, and his second wife An ...

and his wife Anne Furnese. His elder brother was

Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke, 3rd Viscount St John (21 December 1732 – 5 May 1787), was a British Viscount and landowner. His father was John St John, 2nd Viscount St John, half-brother of Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke ...

. His younger sister, the Hon. Louisa St John, married

William Bagot, 1st Baron Bagot William Bagot, 1st Baron Bagot (28 February 1728 – 22 October 1798), known as Sir William Bagot, 6th Baronet, from 1768 to 1780, was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1754 to ...

. His paternal grandparents were

Henry St John, 1st Viscount St John Henry St John, 1st Viscount St John (baptized 17 October 1652 – died 8 April 1742), of Lydiard Tregoze, Wiltshire; Battersea, Surrey; and Berkeley Street, Westminster, Middlesex, was an English politician. In 1685 he was pardoned for a ...

and the former Angelica Magdalena ( née Pellisary) Wharton, the widow of Philip Wharton who was the daughter of George Pellisary, Treasurer-General of the Navy to King

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of ...

. His mother was the half-sister, and heiress, of Sir Henry Furnese, 3rd Baronet, and the only child, by his first wife Anna Balam (daughter of Anthony Balam), of

Sir Robert Furnese, 2nd Baronet Sir Robert Furnese, 2nd Baronet (1 August 1687 – 7 March 1733), of Waldershare, Kent, and Dover Street, Westminster, was an English Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1708 to 1733. Furnese was the son of Sir Henry Fu ...

, MP for

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...

, New Romney, and

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. St John was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

Career

He joined the British Army in 1754 as an ensign in the

Coldstream Regiment of 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 ...

from which he was promoted in 1758 to the rank of captain in the 18th (The Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot, then stationed in Ireland. In 1760 he was promoted Major in the

91st Regiment of Foot The 91st (Argyllshire Highlanders) Regiment of Foot was a Line Regiment of the British Army, raised in 1794. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot to form the Argyll and Sutherland Highl ...

, made Lieutenant-Colonel in 1762 and put on half pay in 1763. In 1767, he was appointed to the 67th Regiment of Foot, then on garrison duty in Minorca. He received the brevet rank of colonel in 1776, and was appointed colonel of the

36th Regiment of Foot The 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1701. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot to form the Worcestershire Regiment in 1881. Its ...

in 1778, a position he held until his death. He was advanced to the rank of major-general in 1779, to that of lieutenant-general in 1787, and made full general on 26 January 1797. He was appointed Groom of the Bedchamber to the Duke of York in 1737 and to the king from 1771 to 1784. He was elected

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 o ...

for

Wootton Bassett Royal Wootton Bassett , formerly Wootton Bassett, is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 11,043 in 2001, increasing to 11,385 in 2011. Situated in the north of the county, it lies to the west of the major ...

in 1761, sitting until 1784 and again in 1802, vacating his seat the same year.

Personal life

In 1771, St John was married to Barbara Bladen (1733–1821), the eldest daughter, and co-heiress, of Thomas Bladen and the former Barbara Janssen (a daughter of

Sir Theodore Janssen, 1st Baronet Sir Theodore Janssen of Wimbledon, 1st Baronet (1650s, Angoulême, France – 22 September 1748, Wimbledon, London) was a French-born English financier and member of parliament who, after a long and successful career in commerce, was ruined and d ...

). Barbara was the sister of Harriet Bladen, the Dowager Countess of Essex (from her marriage to

William Capell, 4th Earl of Essex William Anne Holles Capell, 4th Earl of Essex (7 October 1732 – 4 March 1799), was a British landowner and peer, a member of the House of Lords. Early life Capell was born on 7 October 1732 in Turin. He was the son of William Capell, 3rd Earl o ...

). St John died, without issue, on 3 April 1818.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:St John, Henry 1738 births 1818 deaths British Army generals Royal Irish Regiment (1684–1922) officers 67th Regiment of Foot officers 36th Regiment of Foot officers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1802–1806 Younger sons of viscounts People educated at Eton College