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 ...

Sir Thomas McMahon, 2nd Baronet (1779–1860) 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.

Family

He was the youngest son of John MacMahon, comptroller of the Port of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

, and his second wife Mary Stackpoole, daughter of James Stackpoole. He had a full brother, Sir

William MacMahon Sir William MacMahon, 1st Baronet (1776–1837) was an Irish barrister and judge of the early nineteenth century. He was a member of a Limerick family which became politically prominent through their influence with the Prince Regent, later King Ge ...

, 1st Baronet,

Master of the Rolls in Ireland The Master of the Rolls in Ireland was a senior judicial office in the Irish Chancery under English and British rule, and was equivalent to the Master of the Rolls in the English Chancery. Originally called the Keeper of the Rolls, he was respon ...

, and an elder half-brother,

Sir John McMahon, 1st Baronet Colonel Sir John McMahon, 1st Baronet ( 1754 – 12 September 1817) was an Irish-born politician and Private Secretary to the Prince Regent 1811–1817. Biography He was born in Limerick, son of John MacMahon, comptroller of the port of Li ...

, Private Secretary to

the Prince Regent George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

from 1811 to 1817. He had at least one sister, who married a Mr O'Halloran: her daughter, whose first name is uncertain, was the first wife of the writer and politician

Richard Lalor Sheil Richard Lalor Sheil (17 August 1791 – 23 May 1851), Irish politician, writer and orator, was born at Drumdowney, Slieverue, County Kilkenny, Ireland. The family was temporarily domiciled at Drumdowney while their new mansion at Bellevue, near ...

. She died in childbirth in 1822. While Thomas and William were both gifted men, their early careers were hampered by their relatively humble social origins, and there is little doubt that their half-brother's political influence greatly assisted them in their rise to prominence. John was the first of the McMahon Baronets of Ashley Manor: on his death in 1817, the title passed to Thomas by

special remainder In property law of the United Kingdom and the United States and other common law countries, a remainder is a future interest given to a person (who is referred to as the transferee or remainderman) that is capable of becoming possessory upon the ...

. He married Emily Westropp, daughter of Michael Roberts Westropp of Sunvile,

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

(not to be confused with his grandson, Sir

Michael Roberts Westropp Sir Michael Roberts Westropp (29 June 1817 – 14 January 1890) was the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court and former Advocate General of the Supreme Court, Bombay Presidency. Early life Westropp was born in 1817 in Ireland. He was the son ...

) and Jane Godsell, and they had nine children, including General Sir Thomas Westropp McMahon, 3rd Baronet.

Military career

McMahon served in the Portuguese army in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

and became adjutant-general in India. He went on to be Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth and General Officer Commanding South-West District in 1834 and became Commander-in-chief of the

Bombay Army The Bombay Army was the army of the Bombay Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. It was established in 1668 and governed by the East India Company until the Government of India Act 1858 transferr ...

on 14 February 1840 retiring from that post on 8 April 1847.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:McMahon, Thomas 1779 births 1860 deaths Commanders-in-chief of Bombay Royal Lincolnshire Regiment officers

202 Year 202 ( CCII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Antoninus (or, less frequently, year 955 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 202 for this yea ...

British Army lieutenant generals British Army personnel of the Peninsular War