General Napier Christie Burton (born Napier Christie, 31 August 1758 – 2 January 1835) was a senior British Army officer and Member of Parliament. He was born in America, the only surviving son of General Gabriel Christie of Stirling, Scotland and Montreal, Canada and his wife Sarah, the daughter of John Stevenson of Albany, New York. He took the additional surname of Burton by royal licence on the death of his brother-in-law, Captain Richard Burton, in 1784 and inherited his father's estate in 1799. He became an officer in the British Army, joining in 1775 as an ensign in the

22nd Foot The Cheshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The 22nd Regiment of Foot was raised by the Duke of Norfolk in 1689 and was able to boast an independent existence of over 300 years. Th ...

. He transferred to the

3rd Foot Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the ...

in 1776 and fought in the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

as a lieutenant. He was present at the

Battle of Springfield (1780) The Battle of Springfield was fought during the American Revolutionary War on June 23, 1780, in Union County, New Jersey. After the Battle of Connecticut Farms, on June 7, 1780, had foiled Lieutenant General Wilhelm, Baron von Knyphausen’ ...

before going to South Carolina, where he took part in the battles of

Guilford Guildford is a town in Surrey, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Guildford, the Diocese of Guildford and the Parliamentary constituency of Guildford. Guildford, Guilford, or Gildford may also refer to: Places Australia * Guildfor ...

and Cross Creek before being taken prisoner at the

Siege of Yorktown The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle (from the presence of Germans in all three armies), beginning on September 28, 1781, and ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virgi ...

in 1781. After his return from America he served with the

1st Dragoon Guards The 1st King's Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army. The regiment was raised by Sir John Lanier in 1685 as the 2nd Queen's Regiment of Horse, named in honour of Queen Mary, consort of King James II. It was renamed the 2nd K ...

in Flanders and was promoted captain and lt.-colonel in 1789, brevet colonel in 1795 and brigadier-general in 1796, when he served on the staff in Guernsey. Promoted again to major-general he served on the staff in eastern England before being posted to act as

Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada The following is a list of lieutenant governors of Ontario and the lieutenant governors of the former colony of Upper Canada. The office of Lieutenant Governor of Ontario was created in 1867, when the Province of Ontario was created upon Confed ...

from 1799 to 1802. He returned to England following the death of his wife and served time in Chester as a major in the

before being posted to Ireland in 1806 as colonel-commandant of the first the 6th Battalion and then the 1st Battalion of the

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 ...

(until his death). In 1796 he was returned to Parliament as the member for

Beverley Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...

. At the following general election of 1806 he fought a duel with the winning candidate, John Wharton, a fellow officer, which ended his political career. A man who lived beyond his means he was forced to sell most of his own and his wife's inheritance to pay his debts but nevertheless spent time in prison in 1812 for owing money. In spite of this he was made a full general in 1814. He died in 1835. He had married Mary, the daughter and eventual heiress of Major-General

Ralph Burton Ralph Burton (d. 1768 in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England) was a British soldier and Canadian settler. Burton's military career began in the 2nd Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards, where he rose to the rank of Major, serving under George August ...

of Hull Bank, Beverley, with whom he had 2 sons and 2 daughters. Of their sons, both of whom died unmarried, Robert Christie Burton became MP for Beverley in 1818. Their eldest daughter married firstly Major-General John Clitherow and secondly Henry Peters of

Betchworth Castle Betchworth Castle is a mostly crumbled ruin of a fortified medieval stone house with some tall, two-storey corners strengthened in the 18th century, in the north of the semi-rural parish of Brockham. It is built on a sandstone spur overlooking ...

. Their youngest daughter founded at

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

a home for discharged female prisoners.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Napier Christie 1758 births 1835 deaths British Army generals Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806