Sir Henry Edward Bunbury, KCB, 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 Henry William Bunbury (1 July 1750 – 7 May 1811) was an English caricaturist. The second son of Sir William Bunbury, 5th Baronet (see Bunbury baronets), of Mildenhall, Suffolk, he came of an old Norman family. He was educated at Westminster ...

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 The Battle of Maida, fought on 4 July 1806 was a battle between the British expeditionary force and a French force outside the town of Maida in Calabria, Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. John Stuart led 5,236 Anglo-Sicilian troops to victory ...

in 1806. He served as

Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies The Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies was a junior Ministerial post in the United Kingdom government, subordinate to the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. In 1801 the offices of Under-Secretary of State for War and Und ...

from 1809 to 1816. He was promoted to the rank of

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

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 George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as o ...

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

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

of his sentence of deportation to St Helena. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant-General. Bunbury succeeded to the baronetcy in 1821 on the death of his uncle,

Thomas Charles Bunbury Sir Thomas Charles Bunbury, 6th Baronet (May 1740 – 31 March 1821) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1761 and 1812. He was the first husband of Lady Sarah Lennox. Bunbury was the eldest son of Reverend Sir Willi ...

. He was

High Sheriff of Suffolk This is a list of Sheriffs and High Sheriffs of Suffolk. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually (in March) by the Crown. The Sheriff was originally the principal law enforcement officer in the county a ...

in 1825 and an active

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Suffolk 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 on 4 April 1807. They had five children. He remarried Emily Napier (daughter of

Lady Sarah Lennox Lady Sarah Lennox (14 February 1745 – August 1826) was the most notorious of the famous Lennox sisters, daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and Sarah Cadogan. Early life After the deaths of both her parents when she was only f ...

) 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 Sir Edward Herbert Bunbury, 9th Baronet (8 July 1811 – 5 March 1895), known as Edward Bunbury until 1886, was an English Barrister and a British Liberal Party politician. Biography Bunbury was the second son of Sir Henry Bunbury, 7th Baronet, ...

, 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 Colonel Henry William St Pierre Bunbury CB (2 September 1812 – 18 September 1875) was a British Army officer who served for periods in Australia, South Africa, and India. Early life Bunbury was the son of Lt.-Gen. Sir Henry Bunbury, 7th Baro ...

was an explorer in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

.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 Coldstream Guards officers High Sheriffs of Suffolk