Major General Thomas Staunton St Clair (1785–1847) was a Scottish 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 ...

known for his water-colour paintings which recorded British colonies in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

Life

St Clair was born in

in 1785 where his father, William, was a colonel of the "Scottish Borderers" - the 25th regiment. St Clair's childhood was spent in Scotland at Rosslyn Castle where his father was employed by the first Earl of Rosslyn. Thomas had an elder brother called William who was involved with the mutiny in Gibraltar. William died fighting in

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

in 1809. He also had a brother David and two sisters. His father was a friend of

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, (Edward Augustus; 2 November 1767 – 23 January 1820) was the fourth son and fifth child of King George III. His only legitimate child became Queen Victoria. Prince Edward was created Duke of Kent an ...

and he was able to use this to advance his career more rapidly. 1827 Naval Stores at Rosia Bay

His painting of Malaga's bay and castle near Churrana He signed up for the British Army, joining the 94th Regiment of Foot in 1803, and the following year he was made a lieutenant. In 1806 he was posted to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

as an ensign in the Royal Scots, who garrisoned

Berbice Berbice is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1792 a colony of the Dutch West India Company and between 1792 to 1815 a colony of the Dutch state. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom of Great Britain ...

and

Demerara Demerara ( nl, Demerary, ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state fro ...

during the first decade of the 1800s.Alston, David (2021), ''Slaves and Highlanders: Silenced Histories of Scotland and the Caribbean'',

Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh University Press is a scholarly publisher of academic books and journals, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. History Edinburgh University Press was founded in the 1940s and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Edinburgh ...

, pp. 31 & 32, In the summer of 1809 he took part in the Walcheren Campaign in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In 1814 he was awarded an Army Gold Medal for his part in the Battle of the Nive. By 21 June 1817 he was a lieutenant colonel. In 1820, St. Clair returned to the

Rock of Gibraltar The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabel-al-Tariq) is a monolithic limestone promontory located in the British territory of Gibraltar, near the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula, and near the entrance to the Mediterr ...

as one of the senior officers in command of the garrison at the age of just 36. In 1832 he was sent to Malta and in 1834 he published his autobiographical book ''A Soldiers Recollections of the West Indies and America''. This included an account of his journey to Stabroek aboard HMS ''Brilliant'' that arrived early in 1806 and left him in South America until his return in June 1808. He was appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(CB) in the

1838 Coronation Honours The 1838 Coronation Honours were appointments by Queen Victoria to various orders and honours on the occasion of her coronation on 28 June 1838. The honours were published in ''The London Gazette'' on 20 July and 24 July 1838. The recipients o ...

. St. Clair died in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

in 1846 a year after he was made a major-general.

Legacy

He married Caroline Woodbridge of Richmond, Surrey who was ten years younger than him and they had children. St. Clair has paintings in

Gibraltar Museum The Gibraltar National Museum is a national museum of the history, culture and natural history of Gibraltar located within the city centre of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Founded in 1930 by the then Governor of Gibraltar, Genera ...

Life

Legacy

References

Further reading