General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

John Hely-Hutchinson, 2nd Earl of Donoughmore, GCB, KC (15 May 1757 – 29 June 1832) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and politician.

Background

He was the son of John Hely-Hutchinson and the Baroness Donoughmore. In 1801 he was created Baron Hutchinson in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

(gaining a seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

) and later succeeded to all his brother Richard's titles. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, and

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

. He died 29 June 1832, never having married.

Military career

He entered the Army as 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. There is also a soprano cor ...

in the 18th Dragoons in 1774, rising to a lieutenant the next year. In 1776 he was promoted to become a captain in the

67th Regiment of Foot The 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1756. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Hampshire Regiment (later the Roy ...

, and a major there in 1781. He moved regiments again in 1783, becoming a lieutenant-colonel in, and colonel-commandant of, the

77th Regiment of Foot The 77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot (The Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a Line infantry, line regiment of the British Army, raised in 1787. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot to form the ...

, which was, however, disbanded shortly afterwards following an earlier mutiny. He spent the next 11 years on half-pay, studying military tactics in France before serving as a volunteer in the Flanders campaigns of 1793 as aide-de-camp to Sir

Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British Army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Trinidad in 1797. Rising to the rank ...

. In March 1794 he obtained brevet promotion to colonel and the colonelcy of the old 94th Regiment of Foot and then became a major-general in May 1796, serving in Ireland during the

Irish Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 (; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Turn out'', ''The Hurries'', 1798 Rebellion) was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom of Ireland. The m ...

, where he was second-in-command at the

Battle of Castlebar The Battle of Castlebar was a military engagement of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 which occurred on 27 August 1798 near the town of Castlebar, County Mayo. A combined force of 2,000 French Revolutionary Army troops and United Irishmen rebels ro ...

under

General Lake Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake (27 July 1744 – 20 February 1808) was a British general. He commanded British forces during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and later served as Commander-in-Chief of the military in British India. Background He was ...

. In 1799, he was in the expedition to the Netherlands. Hely-Hutchinson was second-in-command of the 1801 expedition to Egypt, under Abercromby. Following Abercromby's death in March after being wounded at the Battle of Alexandria, Hely-Hutchinson took command of the force. From then he was able to besiege the French firstly at

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

which capitulated in June and then besieged and took Alexandria culminating in the capitulation of over 22,000 French soldiers. In reward for his successes there, the

Ottoman Sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to Dissolution of the Ottoman Em ...

Selim III Selim III (; ; was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. Regarded as an enlightened ruler, he was eventually deposed and imprisoned by the Janissaries, who placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV (). A group of a ...

made him a Knight, 1st Class, of the

Order of the Crescent The Imperial Order of the Crescent () was a chivalric order of the Ottoman Empire. History The order was instituted in 1799 by Sultan Selim III when he wished to reward Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, Horatio Nelson, an Church of England, ...

. In recognition of his "eminent services" during the "late glorious and successful campaign in Egypt", at the request of the King, the United Kingdom Parliament settled on Lord Hutchinson and the next two succeeding heirs male of his body an annuity of £2,000 per annum, paid out of the Consolidated Fund. He was promoted lieutenant-general in September 1803, and made Governor of

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. The castle sits atop an Intrusive rock, intrusive Crag and tail, crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill ge ...

. In March 1802 he was made

Colonel in Chief Colonel-in-Chief is a ceremonial position in an army regiment. It is in common use in several Commonwealth armies, where it is held by the regiment's patron, usually a member of the royal family. Some armed forces take a light-hearted approach to ...

of the

74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot The 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised in 1787. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot to form the Highland Light Infantry in 1881. History Formation ...

. He was made a full general in June 1813. In 1806, he became

of the

57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot The 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot was a regiment of line infantry in the British Army, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot to form the Middlesex Regiment in 1881. His ...

, transferring in 1811 to be

of the

18th Regiment of Foot 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. It is an even composite number. Mathematics 18 is a semiperfect number and an abundant number. It is a largely composite number, as it has 6 divisors and no smaller number ha ...

, a position he held until his death in 1832. He also held the position of Governor of Stirling Castle from 1806 until his death.

Political career

Hely-Hutchinson sat as Member of Parliament (MP) for Lanesborough from 1776 to 1783 and for

Taghmon Taghmon (; ) is a village in County Wexford, Ireland. It lies on the R738 regional road, west of Wexford town and east-southeast of New Ross. The village is in a townland and civil parish of the same name. History It can be established, ...

from 1789 to 1790. Subsequently, he represented

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

until the Act of Union in 1801 and was then MP for

in the after-Union

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

until 1802.

References

;Notes ;Sources *''The Royal Military Calendar, Or Army Service and Commission Book'', ed. John Philippart. p. 1, Vol II of V, 3rd edition, London, 1820
Online edition at Google Books
*''Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922'', edited by B. M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978)
Dictionary of National Biography entry

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donoughmore, John Hely-Hutchinson, 2nd Earl Of 1757 births 1832 deaths 17th Lancers officers 57th Regiment of Foot officers 67th Regiment of Foot officers 77th Regiment of Foot officers Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Alumni of Trinity College Dublin British Army generals British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Highland Light Infantry officers Irish MPs 1776–1783 Irish MPs 1783–1790 Irish MPs 1790–1797 Irish MPs 1798–1800 Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Lord-lieutenants of Tipperary Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Cork City People educated at Eton College People of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 Royal Irish Regiment (1684–1922) officers UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs who inherited peerages Younger sons of barons Knights of the Order of the Crescent

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Longford constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Wexford constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for Cork City 2