William Goodday Strutt (1762–1848) 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 who served as

governor of Quebec The Governor of Quebec was a British Army officer nominally in charge of the garrison at Quebec City. Often the holder of the post was an absentee, and the office was abolished in 1833. Governors * 1760–1774: James Murray * 1774–1797: James J ...

. Strutt was baptised at

Springfield, Essex Springfield has been a civil parish of the Chelmsford (borough), Borough of Chelmsford in Essex, England, since 1907. The parish takes in the portion of the town north of river Chelmer and west of the A12 bypass and originally comprised the manors ...

, on 26 February 1762, the second son of John Strutt, of

Terling Place Terling Place is the Georgian family seat of Baron Rayleigh and the largest house in the village of Terling, Essex, England. It was built for John Strutt, MP between 1772 and 1777 to the designs of John Johnson. The wings, a new porch, a two- ...

, Essex, by Anne, daughter of the Rev. William Goodday of

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the River Blackwater, Essex, Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea ...

. Entering the army in 1778, he joined his regiment, the 61st, at Minorca. Later he was appointed to a company in the 91st, and took part in the defence of

St. Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerin ...

. In 1782, having exchanged into the 97th, he served at the

siege of Gibraltar There have been fourteen recorded sieges of Gibraltar. Although the peninsula of Gibraltar is only long and wide, it occupies an extremely strategic location on the southern Iberian coast at the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It ...

. On the signing of the preliminaries of peace he purchased a majority in the 60th regiment, and, being placed on half-pay, visited several German courts. In 1787 he was sent with his regiment to the West Indies, where he took an active part in military affairs. Succeeding to a lieutenant-colonelcy by special command of George III, he was removed to the 54th, and went with the army of

Lord Moira Francis Edward Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings, (9 December 175428 November 1826), styled The Honourable Francis Rawdon from birth until 1762, Lord Rawdon between 1762 and 1783, The Lord Rawdon from 1783 to 1793 and The Earl of Moira b ...

to Flanders. In 1794 he bore a very distinguished part against the French at

Tiel Tiel () is a municipality and a town in the middle of the Netherlands. The town is enclosed by the Waal river and the Linge river to the South and the North, and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal to the East. Tiel comprises the population centres Kapel- ...

, going through much hard fighting. On his return he was sent to

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...

, where he was raised to the rank of brigadier-general. In January 1796, with two hundred men, he attacked a force of twelve hundred, being himself thrice wounded, and losing his right leg. On his return to England he was received with marked favour by the king, and on 23 February 1796 was made deputy governor of Stirling Castle, afterwards serving upon the staff in Ireland. On 23 June 1798 he was raised to the rank of major-general, and on 13 May 1800 he was, as a reward for his services, appointed to the sinecure office of

, and he held that post until his death. He died at Tofts,

Little Baddow Little Baddow is a village to the east of Chelmsford, Essex. The name ''Baddow'' comes from an Old English word meaning 'bad water', and which was the original name of the River Chelmer. The village is positioned on one of the many elevated hills ...

, Essex, on 5 February 1848, having seen an exceptional amount of military service, both at home and abroad.

References

, which cites: * ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

'' 1848, i. 661 * ''The Essex Herald'', 8 Feb. 1848 * ''

The Annual Register ''The Annual Register'' (originally subtitled "A View of the History, Politicks and Literature of the Year ...") is a long-established reference work, written and published each year, which records and analyses the year's major events, developmen ...

'' 1848, p. xc. {{DEFAULTSORT:Strutt, William Goodday 1762 births 1848 deaths British Army major generals British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars 61st Regiment of Foot officers King's Royal Rifle Corps officers 54th Regiment of Foot officers

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...