Colonel Thomas Wildman (1787 – 1859) was a
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 ...
officer during the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, a
draftsman
A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman or drafting technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawings or plans for m ...
, and
landowner.
Life
He was the eldest son of Thomas Wildman of
Bacton Hall, Suffolk, by Sarah, daughter of Henry Hardinge, of
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
*Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...
.
A nephew of the political reformer
John Horne Tooke
John Horne Tooke (25 June 1736 – 18 March 1812), known as John Horne until 1782 when he added the surname of his friend William Tooke to his own, was an England, English clergyman, politician, and Philology, philologist. Associated with radica ...
and friend of
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
at
Harrow, Wildman
purchased a
cornet
The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...
cy in the
7th Light Dragoons
The 7th Queen's Own Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first formed in 1689. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War and the Second World War. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in ...
in 1808 and later the same year he was promoted
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
without purchase. At the
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
, he was an extra
aide-de-camp to
Lord Uxbridge. His letter after the battle described Uxbridge's wounding at the end of the battle (
grapeshot
Grapeshot is a type of artillery round invented by a British Officer during the Napoleonic Wars. It was used mainly as an anti infantry round, but had other uses in naval combat.
In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of ammunition that consists of ...
to the knee) and the subsequent amputation. Wildman himself was slightly wounded in the battle. In 1816, he purchased a
major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
ity in the
2nd West India Regiment
The West India Regiments (WIR) were infantry units of the British Army recruited from and normally stationed in the British colonies of the Caribbean between 1795 and 1927. In 1888 the two West India Regiments then in existence were reduced t ...
, and later transferred to the
9th Light Dragoons
The 9th Queen's Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but w ...
. In 1828, he became
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of the Mansfield Troop of the
Nottinghamshire Yeomanry and a few months later became major-commandant of the
Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry
The Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry (SRY) was a British Yeomanry regiment. In 1967 it was amalgamated with other units to form the Royal Yeomanry (RY), a light cavalry regiment of the Army Reserve. Originally raised as the Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Cav ...
. He was promoted
colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
in the Army in 1837. In 1840, he transferred to be lieutenant-colonel of the
5th Dragoon Guards
The 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards was a British army cavalry regiment, officially formed in January 1686 as Shrewsbury's Regiment of Horse. Following a number of name changes, it became the 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) ...
.
He recorded his service during the
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...
in a diary, which was subsequently published.
The Wildman family had obtained Quebec Estate, a large sugar plantation in Jamaica, from
William Beckford, who was having
financial problems
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fin ...
. The wealth generated from this plantation provided Wildman with the means to purchase
Newstead Abbey
Newstead Abbey, in Nottinghamshire, England, was formerly an Augustinian priory. Converted to a domestic home following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it is now best known as the ancestral home of Lord Byron.
Monastic foundation
The prior ...
in 1818
for £95,000. The Abbey was owned by his friend and old schoolmate, Lord Byron who, like Beckford, was having financial difficulties. Byron had been trying to sell the Abbey since 1812. Of the sale, Byron's half-sister
Augusta said Wildman had "soul enough to value the dear Abbey..."
Although Wildman's purchase ended almost four centuries of Byron family ownership of the Abbey, he was considered to be the man who saved Byron's home. He spent £100,000 restoring it, hiring the architect
John Shaw to make improvements. He also amassed a large collection of Byron memorabilia there. He served as
High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire
This is a list of the High Sheriffs of the English county of Nottinghamshire.
The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuri ...
for 1821–22.
The Wildmans entertained many guests who wished to visit the home of Lord Byron, including
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
and
Washington Irving
Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...
. The
Duke of Sussex
Duke of Sussex is a substantive title, one of several royal dukedoms, that has been created twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It is a hereditary title of a specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. It takes its name fr ...
visited annually for a six-week holiday with his chaplain. After Wildman's death, Louisa sold the Abbey to
William Frederick Webb
William Frederick Webb (1829–1899) was a High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire and officer in the British Army.
Background and early life
William Frederick Webb was born in Sussex in March 1829, one of four children of Frederick Webb and Mary Shi ...
.
Personal life
In 1816, he married a
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
woman, Louisa Preisig. They had no children.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wildman, Thomas
1787 births
1859 deaths
People educated at Harrow School
People of the Battle of Waterloo
Merchants from the British West Indies
Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey
7th Queen's Own Hussars officers
West India Regiment officers
9th Queen's Royal Lancers officers
5th Dragoon Guards officers
British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry officers
High Sheriffs of Nottinghamshire
19th-century British businesspeople