Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Richard Henry Bonnycastle (30 September 1791 – 3 November 1847) was an officer of 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 Gur ...
active in
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...
.
Life
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Richard Henry Bonnycastle was the son of Professor
John Bonnycastle
John Bonnycastle (baptized 29 December 1751 in Hardwick or Whitchurch, England – 15 May 1821 in Woolwich, England) was an English teacher of mathematics and author.
Life
John Bonnycastle was born in Buckinghamshire, in about 1750.
Nothing ...
, and was born in 1791.
He studied at the
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, as a cadet, and passed out as a second lieutenant of the royal engineers 28 September 1808, becoming a first lieutenant in the following year. He served at the siege of
Flushing in 1809, and in the American campaigns of 1812–14, during which he was present at the capture of
Fort Castine, and the occupation of the part of the state of Maine east of the
Penobscot
The Penobscot ( Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic ...
, and was commanding engineer at the construction of the extensive works thrown up by the British on the Castine peninsula. He attained the rank of captain in 1814, in which year he married the daughter of Captain W. Johnstone. Subsequently, he served with the army of occupation in France.
As commanding royal engineer in Upper Canada, he rendered very important services during the
Canadian rebellion in 1837–39, particularly in February 1838, when, at the head of a force of militia and volunteers, in the absence of regular troops, he defeated the designs of the insurgents at
Napanee
Greater Napanee is a town in southeastern Ontario, Canada, approximately west of Kingston and the county seat of Lennox and Addington County. It is located on the eastern end of the Bay of Quinte. Greater Napanee municipality was created by ...
, and the brigands at
Hickory Island, for an attack on the city of Kingston. For these services he was knighted. In his capacity as a
military engineer, Bonnycastle oversaw the fortification of
Fort Henry in modern
Kingston,
Ontario. He was afterwards commanding engineer in Newfoundland.
He became a brevet-major in 1837, a regimental lieutenant-colonel in 1840, and retired from the service in 1847.
He died in 1848.
Family
Through his son,
Henry William John Bonnycastle
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
*Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
(1813–1888) would come a prominent
Bonnycastle family The Bonnycastle family of Canada include:
* Sir Richard Henry Bonnycastle (1791-1847), British soldier
* Henry William John Bonnycastle (1813-1888), lawyer, militiaman, farmer, councillor, artist
* Angus Bonnycastle (1873-1941), lawyer, politi ...
of Canadian politicians and adventurers and the founder of
Harlequin Enterprises, the world's largest publisher of
romance novels.
Works
* Richard Henry Bonnycastle (1849). ''Canada and the Canadians, Volume I''. London.
* Richard Henry Bonnycastle (1849). ''Canada and the Canadians, Volume II''. London.
Notes
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonnycastle, Richard Henry
Richard Henry Bonnycastle
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Richard Henry Bonnycastle (30 September 1791 – 3 November 1847) was an officer of the British army active in Upper Canada.
Life
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Richard Henry Bonnycastle was the son of Professor John Bonnycas ...
1791 births
1847 deaths
Royal Engineers officers
English emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario
People from Kingston, Ontario
Immigrants to Upper Canada