General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Henry Dundas, 3rd Viscount Melville GCB (25 February 1801 – 1 February 1876) was a senior

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 and peer.

Military career

The eldest son of

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 als ...

, and his wife

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

, Dundas joined the Army as a lieutenant in the 3rd (or Scots) Guards in 1819. He was promoted to captain of the 83rd Regiment in 1824, major in 1826 and lieutenant-colonel in 1829. In 1837 he was active in suppressing the Canadian rebellion at the

Battle of the Windmill :''The "Battle of the Windmill" is also a fictional battle in the book Animal Farm.'' The Battle of the Windmill was a battle fought in November 1838 in the aftermath of the Upper Canada Rebellion. Loyalist forces of the Upper Canadian government ...

, after which he was appointed colonel and aide-de-camp to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

in 1841. He played a distinguished part in India as a brigadier-general in 1848–49, chosen to command the column sent from Bombay to co-operate with Lord Gough's army in the

Second Anglo-Sikh War The Second Anglo-Sikh War was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company, British East India Company that took place in 1848 and 1849. It resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab r ...

. He was second in command at the capture of Multan and then joined the main army with his force for the

battle of Gujrat The Battle of Gujrat was a decisive battle in the Second Anglo-Sikh War, fought on 21 February 1849, between the forces of the East India Company, and a Sikh army in rebellion against the company's control of the Sikh Empire, represented by ...

. He returned to England in 1850 and became 3rd Viscount Melville on his father's death in 1851. He became Commander-in-Chief, Scotland in 1854 remaining in that post until 1860, in which year he was made Governor of Edinburgh Castle. He was raised to the rank of

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

in 1868. He died unmarried at

Melville Castle Melville Castle is a three-storey Gothic castellated mansion situated less than a mile (2 km) west-south-west of Dalkeith, Midlothian, near the North Esk. History An earlier tower house on the site was demolished when the present stru ...

, near Edinburgh in 1876. He is buried in the simple Dundas Vault in Old

Lasswade Lasswade is a village and civil parish in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River North Esk, nine miles (14.5 kilometres) south of Edinburgh city centre, contiguous with Bonnyrigg and between Dalkeith to the east and Loanhead to the west. Melvil ...

Kirkyard, together with his ancestors and descendants. His younger brother,

Richard Saunders Dundas Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Saunders Dundas, (11 April 1802 – 3 June 1861) was a Royal Navy officer. As a captain, he took part in the capture of the Bogue forts in January 1841, during the First Opium War. He was appointed to the command of the ...

, was a prominent naval officer. He was succeeded as

Viscount Melville Viscount Melville, of Melville in the County of Edinburgh, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Origins The title was created on 24 December 1802 for the notable lawyer and politician Henry Dundas. He was created Baron Dunira, '' ...

by his brother Robert.

Parliament

He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

from 1826 to 1830, and for

Winchelsea Winchelsea () is a small town in the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. The ...

from 1830 to 1831.

Arms

Street names

The re-routed and extended Dundas Street West and East, in the City of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, is named after him.

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Melville, Henry Dundas, 3rd Viscount 1801 births 1876 deaths British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Sikh War Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom British Army generals Upper Canada Rebellion people

Henry Dundas Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, PC, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was the trusted lieutenant of British Prime Minister William Pitt and the most powerful politician in Scotland in the late 18t ...

King's Royal Rifle Corps officers Coldstream Guards officers 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot officers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs who inherited peerages