General Walter Douglas Phillips Patton-Bethune (1821–1901) was a British soldier and landowner.

Life

Born in 1821 at Bishops Hull House, Bishops Hull Taunton, Somerset, he was the eldest son of Thomas Patton (1792–1876), a Captain in the Royal Navy who became a Somerset landowner, and his wife Matilda Winsloe. One of his great-grandmothers was Mary Bethune, who had married Colonel Henry Patton. Thomas and Matilda had nine children while living in Bishops Hull. Entering the British Army in 1838, he became an ensign by purchase in the

47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot The 47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in Scotland in 1741. It served in North America during the Seven Years' War and American Revolutionary War and also fought during the Napoleonic Wars and ...

. He served with this regiment in Malta and the West Indies, moving in 1846 as a Captain to the 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot, with whom he served in all operations of the Eighth Kaffir War, commanding the Regiment from November 1851 until October 1852. As a

brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...

Lieutenant-Colonel, he fought in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

, being present at the

Battle of Balaclava The Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55), an Allied attempt to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russian Empire, Russia's principal naval base on the Bl ...

, the Battle of Inkerman, and the Siege of Sevastopol, and during the Battle of Alma was with the staff of Lord Raglan. For his services there he was awarded the Ottoman Order of the Medjidie. After further duties in India, he went on half-pay in 1864 but enjoyed further promotions, culminating in 1877 with the rank of full general. He was colonel of 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot from 1876 until their amalgamation with the

71st Foot The 71st Regiment of Foot was a Highland regiment in the British Army, raised in 1777. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot to become the 1st Battalion, Highland Light Infantry in 1881. History ...

in 1881, after which he was colonel of the 2nd Battalion of the resultant Highland Light Infantry until his death. Around 1873, he inherited the mansion and estate of Clayton Priory in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

; and in 1882, he received royal permission to add the surname of Bethune after that of Patton. Patton-Bethune died on 28 January 1901 at Clayton Priory. His will was proved in London on 24 August 1903, showing effects of £12,000 ().

Family

On 23 April 1855, in the British Embassy in Paris, he married Julia Elphinstone (1835–1909),The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; General Register Office: Foreign Registers and Returns; Class: RG 33; Piece: 73 daughter of Sir Howard Elphinstone, 2nd Baronet, and his wife Elizabeth Julia Curteis. They had five children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patton-Bethune, Walter Douglas Phillips 1821 births 1901 deaths People from Taunton 47th Regiment of Foot officers 74th Highlanders officers British Army personnel of the Crimean War People from Clayton, West Sussex