Sir Henry Edward Bunbury, 7th Baronet (4 March 1778 – 13 April 1860) was a British soldier and historian.

Life

Sir Henry, son of the famous caricaturist, Henry William Bunbury and Catherine Horneck, was educated at Westminster, and served on active service in the army from 1795 to 1809, notably in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland in 1799, the Egyptian Campaign 1801, and the campaigns in the Mediterranean, where Bunbury served as Quartermaster-General. He particularly distinguished himself at the Battle of Maida in 1806. He served as Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies from 1809 to 1816. He was promoted to the rank of Major-General and appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(KCB) in 1815, and in the same year was responsible for informing

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

of his sentence of deportation to

St Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

. He rose to the rank of

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

. Bunbury succeeded to the baronetcy in 1821 on the death of his uncle, Thomas Charles Bunbury. He was High Sheriff of Suffolk in 1825 and an active Member of Parliament for

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

from 1830 to 1832. He died at Barton Hall, Bury, Suffolk.

Works

Bunbury was the author of historical works, the most notable being his military memoirs ''Narratives of Some Passages in the Great War with France'', first published in 1854.

"Henry Bunbury's ''Great War with France'' is perhaps the most valuable record... which any soldier has bequeathed to us of the long struggle that began in 1793 and ended in 1815. and it derives its value from the fact that the author was not only a good soldier, well skilled in his profession, but that he was, as a staff officer, thrown with the best British commanders... of his day; that he had opportunities of discussing with them every point of military policy and the details of many important campaigns; and that further he was a highly educated gentleman, with a seeing eye, a kindly nature, a keen sense of the ridiculous, and a very real literary gift."

Family

Bunbury married Louisa Amelia Fox, (daughter of General Henry Edward Fox and Marianne Clayton) on 4 April 1807. They had five children. He remarried Emily Napier (daughter of Lady Sarah Lennox and cousin of the same Henry Edward Fox) on 22 September 1830. The eldest son, Sir Charles James Fox Bunbury inherited his title and was a well known naturalist. His second son, Sir Edward Herbert Bunbury, also a member of Parliament, was well known as a geographer and archaeologist, and author of a ''History of Ancient Geography''. Another son Henry William St Pierre Bunbury was an explorer in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

.Cara Cammilleri
Bunbury, Henry William St Pierre (1812–1875)
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition, Australian National University, ISSN 1833-7538

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bunbury, Henry, 7th Baronet 1778 births 1860 deaths People educated at Westminster School, London Baronets in the Baronetage of England Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 British Army lieutenant generals British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Henry Coldstream Guards officers High sheriffs of Suffolk