Sir James Caldwell, 4th Baronet, Count of Milan (c.1720 – February 1784) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

soldier and author. Caldwell was the son of Sir John Caldwell, 3rd Baronet and Anne Trench. He graduated from

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

in 1737 and was made a freeman of

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

in 1741. In the early 1740s he undertook the

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

, during which he enlisted as an officer in the Austrian Imperial Army. He served as aide-de-camp to

Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia Charles Emmanuel III (27 April 1701 – 20 February 1773) was Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia from 1730 until his death. Biography He was born in Turin to Victor Amadeus II of Savoy and his first wife the French Anne Marie d'Orléans. Hi ...

, and was employed chiefly in negotiating with the

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a Sovereign state, sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of ...

. He was made Count of Milan by Empress

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...

in 1749, having inherited his father's

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1744. Unwilling to take the oath of allegiance to Austria, Caldwell declined the post of chamberlain to Maria Theresa and returned to Ireland in 1750. In 1753 Caldwell was elected to be a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

. He was appointed colonel of a regiment of militia foot and

High Sheriff of Fermanagh The High Sheriff of Fermanagh is the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Fermanagh. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the High Sheriff became annually appointed from the Provisions of Oxford in 1258. Besides h ...

in 1756. Between 1759 and 1763 he raised and maintained a regiment of light horse at his own expense, which was used in the suppression of

Whiteboys The Whiteboys ( ga, na Buachaillí Bána) were a secret Irish agrarian organisation in 18th-century Ireland which defended tenant-farmer land-rights for subsistence farming. Their name derives from the white smocks that members wore in their ...

activity. In 1762 he was made a member of the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

. He improved the estate at Castle Caldwell and gave land for the construction of a Roman Catholic church. Caldwell was a recorder of parliamentary speeches, publishing accounts of the activity in the

House of Commons of Great Britain The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the third estate of th ...

in 1762 and of 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 ...

from 1763 and 1764. He married Elizabeth Hort, daughter of

Josiah Hort Josiah Hort (c. 1674 – 14 December 1751), was an English clergyman of the Church of Ireland who ended his career as archbishop of Tuam. Born in Marshfield, Gloucestershire, son of John Hort, and brought up as a Nonconformist, Hort went to scho ...

. He was succeeded in his title by his eldest son, John Caldwell (1756–1830).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caldwell, James, 4th Baronet Year of birth uncertain 1784 deaths 18th-century Anglo-Irish people Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland Counts of Austria Fellows of the Royal Society High Sheriffs of County Fermanagh Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Military personnel of the Holy Roman Empire