Lieutenant-General Hon. John Meade CB ( – 6 August 1849) was an Irish officer 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 ...

. After leaving the professional army he served as a militia officer in Ireland, and sat in the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 me ...

for twelve years before taking up a diplomatic post.

Early life and family

Born around 1775, Meade was the third son of John Meade, 1st Viscount Clanwilliam (later 1st

Earl of Clanwilliam Earl of Clanwilliam is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1776 for John Meade, 1st Viscount Clanwilliam. The Meade family descends from Sir John Meade, who represented Dublin University and County Tipperary in the Irish Hous ...

). His mother Theodosia was a daughter and co-heir of Robert Hawkins Magill, who sat in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...

for

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

from 1724 to 1745.

Military and political career

Meade joined the

on 30 October 1794, as an

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

in Lieutenant-Colonel Macnamara's Regiment. He was transferred to Lieutenant-Colonel Ward's Regiment and promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 12 November 1794. After that regiment was disbanded in 1795, he joined the

12th Regiment of Foot 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

. In June 1796, he sailed aboard the ''Rockingham'' East Indiaman, going out with the regiment to India. Meade was briefly put up as a candidate for

for the 1797 election. His mother had inherited estates at Gilford and

Rathfriland Rathfriland () is a market town in County Down, Northern Ireland. History In older documents written in English, the town's name was usually spelt ''Rathfylan'' or ''Rathfrilan''.

which gave the family a small electoral interest there under her management. After Meade's announcement, the anti-Unionist Lord Downshire and the Unionist

Lord Londonderry Marquess of Londonderry, of the County of Londonderry ( ), is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. History The title was created in 1816 for Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Londonderry. He had earlier represented County Down in the Irish House of ...

, holders of the largest electoral interests in the county, agreed to combine against him and split the two county seats between them, avoiding the enormous expense of a contested election. In the face of this coalition, the Countess withdrew Meade's candidacy. He was promoted to a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the

9th Regiment of Foot 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

on 27 August 1799 and took part in the Helder Expedition and the

Ferrol Expedition The Ferrol Expedition (or Battle of Brión) took place on 25 and 26 August 1800, and was an unsuccessful British attempt to capture Ferrol from Spain. Ferrol was a major Spanish naval base with a shipyard for shipbuilding and dry dock for rep ...

, then with the rest of Sir James Pulteney's command to

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

. On 4 June 1801, he purchased a commission as

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the 30th Regiment of Foot. Meade was promoted from the 30th to become 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 colonel. ...

in the 16th Garrison Battalion, in Ireland, on 8 December 1804. He went on

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the Eng ...

when that regiment was disbanded in February 1805 and was appointed to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the

45th Regiment of Foot The 45th (Nottinghamshire) (Sherwood Foresters) Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised in 1741. The regiment saw action during Father Le Loutre's War, the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War as w ...

on 30 March 1805. In 1805, an electoral struggle broke out in Down, site of the Meade family's remaining estates. The sitting MP

Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, (18 June 1769 – 12 August 1822), usually known as Lord Castlereagh, derived from the courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh ( ) by which he was styled from 1796 to 1821, was an Anglo-Irish politician ...

(son of Lord Londonderry) was a close confidant of the Prime Minister

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...

, and was obliged to seek re-election when he was appointed as

Secretary of State for War and the Colonies The Secretary of State for War and the Colonies was a British cabinet-level position responsible for the army and the British colonies (other than India). The Secretary was supported by an Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. Hist ...

. Castlereagh had alienated the dowager Lady Downshire, the county's biggest landowner, who determined to contest the by-election with her own candidate. John's mother Lady Clanwilliam agreed to join with Lady Downshire in promoting his candidacy against Castlereagh. The Londonderry and Downshire interests spent lavishly: the Downshires may have spent as much as £30,000 (equivalent to £ in ) on the by-election in July 1805, from which Meade emerged victorious, giving Lady Downshire control of both the county's seats. In the Commons, Meade voted with the opposition until 1812. He took leave from Parliament to fight in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

in 1810, and commanded the 45th at the

Battle of Bussaco The Battle of Buçaco () or Bussaco, fought on 27 September 1810 during the Peninsular War in the Portuguese mountain range of Serra do Buçaco, resulted in the defeat of French forces by Lord Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese Army. Having o ...

. However, he was present in Parliament, and not with the regiment, during the 1812 campaign. Meade retired from active service in June 1813. By then the Downshire and Londonderry interests had reached a truce, so Meade switched his support to the government. He was appointed a

brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...

-colonel on 4 June 1813, and made a

Companion of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as on ...

on 4 June 1815. On 2 October 1816, he married Urania Caroline (died November 1851), the daughter of Edward Ward, by whom he had four sons. *Capt. John Meade (1824–bef. 1894?) *Maj. Richard Raphael Meade (1826–1873), married and left children *Henry Meade (d. 13 July 1864) *Edward Meade (1830 – 16 January 1882)

Diplomat

Meade resigned his seat in 1817 to make way for

Lord Arthur Hill Colonel Lord Arthur William Hill PC, DL, JP (28 July 1846 – 13 January 1931), was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Conservative politician. He served three times as Comptroller of the Household between 1885 and 1898 in the Conservative adminis ...

, and was appointed British

consul-general A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

in Spain, an office he retained until its abolition in 1832. On 12 August 1819, he was brevetted

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

, and, on 10 January 1837,

lieutenant-general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

. He died in Madrid on 6 August 1849.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meade, John Year of birth uncertain 1775 births 1849 deaths Military personnel from County Down Younger sons of earls Suffolk Regiment officers 30th Regiment of Foot officers British Army personnel of the Peninsular War Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Down constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 British diplomats Royal Norfolk Regiment officers Sherwood Foresters officers British Army lieutenant generals Companions of the Order of the Bath