James Rooke ( – 4 October 1805) was an English general in the

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 ...

and a politician.

Early life

He was the only son of Major James Rooke and his wife, Jane, daughter and heiress of Tracy Catchmay of Bigsweir House, Monmouthshire. He inherited large estates in Monmouthshire from his mother.

Career

Rooke joined the army in 1759, and by 1779 was a

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

of the 14th Foot. He was promoted colonel in 1780, major-general in 1787 and served as colonel commandant of the 4th Battalion,

60th (Royal American) Regiment of Foot The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

from 1788 to 1796. in 1796 he was given the colonelcy of the

38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot The 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1705. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 80th Regiment of Foot (Staffordshire Volunteers) to form the South Staffordshire Regim ...

for life and promoted to full

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

in 1802. He was a

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 ...

(MP) for Monmouthshire from 1785 until his death.

Personal life and death

Rooke had married Elizabeth Brown of

St Briavels St Briavels (pronounced ''Brevels'', once known as 'Ledenia Parva' (Little Lydney)), is a medium-sized village and civil parish in the Royal Forest of Dean in west Gloucestershire, England; close to the England-Wales border, and south of Colef ...

. Their son, Lieutenant-Colonel James Rooke, died of his wounds in Colombia fighting for independence in 1819. Their daughter, Eleanor, married Thomas Probyn, Governor of St Kitts. Rooke died at age 63 and was buried in St Briavels, Gloucestershire in 1805.

References

, - 1742 births 1805 deaths British Army generals Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Welsh constituencies British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Welsh constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 West Yorkshire Regiment officers {{British-Army-bio-stub