Sir John Burgoyne, 7th Baronet (1739–1785) was an English general, seventh baronet, of

Sutton, Bedfordshire Sutton is a rural village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It lies east of Bedford. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census, its population was 299. Main features ...

, and cousin of Lieutenant-General

John Burgoyne General (United Kingdom), General John "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British Army officer, playwright and politician who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1761 to 1792. He first saw acti ...

Life

Burgoyne entered the army at an early age. After serving in the 7th Fusiliers and other corps, he obtained the lieutenant-colonelcy of the 58th Foot in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in 1764. Some years later he was transferred to that of the 14th Light Dragoons, then on the Irish establishment. The ' Calendar of Home Office Papers,' 1770–2, pars. 224, 639, shows these appointments to have been dictated by political as well as professional considerations. In 1781 Burgoyne was commissioned to raise a regiment of light dragoons for service in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, the first European cavalry sent out to that country. This corps, originally known as the 23rd Light Dragoons, was formed out of drafts from other regiments, and had its rendezvous at Bedford. Standards, now in possession of the 19th Hussars, were presented to it by

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

, and early in 1782 it embarked, with other reinforcements, on board the

East India East India is a region consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The states of Bihar and West Bengal lie on the Indo-Gangetic plain. Jharkhan ...

fleet under convoy of Admiral Sir R. Bickerton, and landed at

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

towards the end of the year. Under its changed name of the

19th Light Dragoons The 19th Light Dragoons was a cavalry regiment of the British Army created in 1781 for service in British India. The regiment served in India until 1806, and in North America during the War of 1812, and was disbanded in Britain in 1821. History ...

it subsequently won great renown on Indian battle-fields. Burgoyne was promoted to the rank of major-general on the Madras staff in 1783. He died at Madras in 1785. He had married Charlotte, daughter of General Johnstone of Overston,

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

, and by this lady, who afterwards married, secondly, Lieutenant-general

Eyre Power Trench Eyre may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eyre (given name), a list of people * Eyre (surname), a list of people and fictional characters Places Australia South Australia * Eyre Peninsula (disambiguation) * Eyre, South Australia, a ...

, he left several children. Burgoyne's eldest son,

Sir Montague Roger Burgoyne, 8th Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...

, was also a cavalry officer, and like his father ultimately became a major-general. He entered the army as cornet in the

Scots Greys The Royal Scots Greys was a cavalry regiment of the Army of Scotland that became a regiment of the British Army in 1707 upon the Union of Scotland and England, continuing until 1971 when they amalgamated with the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of ...

in 1789, and in 1795 became lieutenant-colonel of the short-lived 32nd Light Dragoons. He was afterwards for some years one of the inspecting field-officers of yeomanry and volunteer corps. He died at his mother's residence in

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road via Oxford Circus. It marks the notional boundary between the areas of Fitzrovia and Marylebone to t ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, on 11 August 1817. Shortly before his death Burgoyne was the object of a curious and vexatious prosecution, in which the vicar of his parish sued him for penalties under an old law for not having attended divine service during a period exceeding twelve months. The proceedings fell through.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burgoyne, John 1739 births 1785 deaths British Army major generals Baronets in the Baronetage of England People from Sutton, Bedfordshire