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 ...

Sir John Clavering KB (''bapt.'' 1722 – 30 August 1777) was an army officer and diplomat.

Military career

Baptised in

Lanchester, County Durham Lanchester is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England, west of Durham and from Consett. It had a population at the 2011 Census of 4,054. Although there was a small drift mine on the edge of the village which closed in the 1970s ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1722, Clavering was the younger son of Sir James Clavering Bt and Catherine Yorke,T. H. Bowyer, ‘Clavering, Sir John (bap. 1722, d. 1777)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 26 May 2008
/ref> and younger brother of

Sir Thomas Clavering, 7th Baronet Sir Thomas Clavering, 7th Baronet (19 June 1719 – 14 October 1794) was a British landowner and Member of Parliament. He was the son of Sir James Clavering, 6th Baronet and succeeded to the Baronetcy of Axwell and to the family estates on the ...

. The Peerage website
/ref> He was commissioned as

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 the Army in 1736, and was a captain of the

Coldstream 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 ...

by 1753. During the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

, Clavering served in the West Indies. During the Invasion of Guadeloupe Major-General John Barrington transferred most of the soldiers from

Fort Royal Fort-de-France (, , ; gcf, label= Martinican Creole, Fodfwans) is a commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean. It is also one of the major cities in the Caribbean. Histo ...

, Martinique, to Fort Louis on the

Grande-Terre Grande-Terre Island (french: île de Grande-Terre / île de la Grande-Terre; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwantè) is the name of the eastern-half of Guadeloupe proper, in the Lesser Antilles. It is separated from the other half of Guadeloupe ...

side of

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

. In March he used this as a base from which naval transport carried separate forces under Brigadiers

Byam Crump Byam Crump (died 11 March 1760) was a British soldier who was briefly Governor of Guadeloupe. He took part in the invasion of that island during the Seven Years' War, and became governor and commander of the occupying forces in May 1759. The Briti ...

and John Clavering to attack French positions around the island. The attacks were highly effective, and the French capitulated on 2 May 1759. In 1762, Clavering obtained a colonelcy on the

52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot The 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot was a light infantry regiment of the British Army throughout much of the 18th and 19th centuries. The regiment first saw active service during the American War of Independence, and were posted to India du ...

. Promoted to

, in 1770, Clavering was appointed as governor of

Landguard Fort Landguard Fort is a fort at the mouth of the River Orwell outside Felixstowe, Suffolk, designed to guard the mouth of the river. It is now managed by the charity English Heritage and is open to the public. History Originally known as Langer ...

. In 1773, Clavering travelled to India as a member of the

Supreme Council of Bengal The Supreme Council of Bengal was the highest level of executive government in British India from 1774 until 1833: the period in which the East India Company, a private company, exercised political control of British colonies in India. It was for ...

. In 1774, shortly after

Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first Governor-Genera ...

was appointed

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

, Clavering was appointed as

Commander in Chief in India During the period of the Company rule in India and the British Raj, the Commander-in-Chief, India (often "Commander-in-Chief ''in'' or ''of'' India") was the supreme commander of the British Indian Army. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his ...

. He was created a

Knight 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 one ...

in 1775. He died at

Calcutta, India Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...

, and is buried there in

South Park Street Cemetery South Park Street Cemetery is located on Mother Teresa Sarani, Central Kolkata, India. The road used to be called Park Street, and prior to that Burial Ground Road. History The Park Street Cemetery was one of the earliest non-church cemet ...

.''The South Park Street Cemetery, Calcutta'', published by the Association for the Preservation of Historical Cemeteries in India, 5th ed., 2009

Family

Clavering was married twice; firstly (in 1756) he married Lady Diana West, daughter of

John West, 1st Earl De La Warr Lieutenant-General John West, 1st Earl De La Warr (4 April 169316 March 1766), styled The Honourable John West until 1723 and known as The Lord De La Warr between 1723 and 1761, was a British soldier, courtier and politician who sat in the Hous ...

. Lady Diana died in 1766. In 1772, Clavering married his cousin, Catherine Yorke.

References

Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath 1777 deaths Coldstream Guards officers 52nd Regiment of Foot officers British Army lieutenant generals People from Lanchester, County Durham British Army personnel of the Seven Years' War British Commanders-in-Chief of India 1722 births Younger sons of baronets {{UK-army-bio-stub