Sir William Charles Farrell-Skeffington, 1st Baronet, (24 June 1742 – 26 January 1815) was a British soldier. Born William Charles Farrell in London, the eldest son of William Farrell of

Skeffington Hall Skeffington Hall is a 15th-century Manor House which stands in parkland off the main street of the village of Skeffington, Leicestershire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building and is privately owned. The house was originally constructed in a ...

, he was appointed to an ensigncy in the

1st Foot Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

on 11 February 1761, and married Catherine Josepha Hubbard, eldest daughter of the merchant Michael Hubbard of Tenerife, on 9 December 1765. On 27 May 1768 he was appointed a lieutenant and captain in the 1st Guards, and on 11 June that yearDate from 1965 article; Lumley's obituary states his name was changed in 1772. assumed the surname and arms of

Skeffington Skeffington is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It lies 11 miles/18 km east of Leicester on the A47 Uppingham road, between Billesdon and Tugby and Keythorpe. The population at the 2011 census ...

by royal warrant, tracing his membership of that ancient Leicestershire family through his grandmother, Elizabeth Skeffington. On 5 February 1772 he rose to the rank of captain and lieutenant-colonel, and last appeared in the Army List in 1778, presumably retiring thereafter. In 1786, he was appointed a

baronet 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 ...

, and later became deputy lieutenant of

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

. In 1794, he was appointed to the colonelcy of the

Leicestershire Yeomanry The Leicestershire Yeomanry (Prince Albert's Own) was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794 and again in 1803, which provided cavalry and mounted infantry in the Second Boer War and the First World War and provided two fie ...

, effective 9 May, and held the post until November 1803. He had one surviving son, Lumley St. George Skeffington, who succeeded him in the baronetcy, but did not inherit his estate in Leicestershire; Skeffington Hall, its grounds, and the library were sold in July 1814, just before Sir William's death.

Notes

References

*''Sir William Skeffington, Bart. as Colonel of The Leicestershire Yeomanry, c. 1794''. Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, vol. 43 iss. 173, p. 27. March 1965. ontains a reproduction of a portrait made c. 1795-1800*Obituary of Sir William Skeffington, Bt., in ''The Times'', 28 January 1815 *Obituary of Lumley St. George Skeffington in the ''Gentleman's Magazine'', vol. XXXV, January–June 1851. pp. 198–9. *, baronetcies list {{DEFAULTSORT:Farrell-Skeffington, William 1742 births 1815 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Grenadier Guards officers Deputy Lieutenants of Leicestershire Leicestershire Yeomanry officers