Edward Paget
Sir Edward Paget was a British Army Officer, Member of Parliament and courtier.
Early life and family
Edward Paget was born the fourth son and sixth child of Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge.During the course of his life, he and several of his 11 siblings achieved played a prominent role in British military and policital life; his eldest brother Henry William, 2nd Earl of Uxbridge, was in 1815 created Marquess of Anglesey and is best remembered for leading the charge of the heavy cavalry at the Battle of Waterloo. The third eldest brother, Sir Arthur Paget, was an eminent diplomat during the Napoleonic Wars, the fifth, Sir Charles Paget, served with distinction in the navy, and rose to the rank of vice-admiral.
Paget's sisters were each married to prominent aristocrats and military figures; they included Caroline, Countess of Enniskillen, Mary, Baroness Graves, Jane Stewart, Countess of Galloway, and Louisa, Lady Erskine.
Marriages and issue
On 22 May 1805 Paget married The Hon. Frances Bagot, youngest daughter of William Bagot, 1st Baron Bagot. The couple had one child:- Reverend Francis Edward Paget.
On 22 February 1815 Paget was married his second wife Lady Harriet Legge, daughter of George Legge, 3rd Earl of Dartmouth. The marriage produced eight children:
- Major Henry William Paget, married in 1851 to Anna Matilda Catherine Walker, daughter of Sir George Townshend Walker, 1st Baronet
- Frances Jane Paget married in 1843 to John Butler, 2nd Marquess of Ormonde
- Harriet Mary Paget
- Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick Lewis Cole Paget.
- Caroline Paget married Rev. The Hon. John Venables-Vernon, son of Henry Venables-Vernon, 3rd Baron Vernon
- Reverend Edward Heneage Paget married The Hon. Emma Mary Eden, daughter of Robert Eden, 3rd Baron Auckland.
- Mary Georgiana Paget
Career
Soldier
Edward Paget became a cornet in the 1st Regiment of Life Guards in 1792.In 1808, he was with John Moore in Gothenburg to assist the Swedish in the Finnish War. Moore's disagreements with Gustavus IV soon led to their being sent home where they were ordered to Portugal.
He served in the British Army during the Peninsular War commanding the reserve at the Battle of Corunna in 1809 and then conducting the advance to Porto in 1809, during which he lost his right arm. He was second in command under Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington in 1811 and was captured by French cavalry in 1812 and kept a prisoner for two years until the end of the War.
Briefly serving as the Governor of Ceylon in 1822, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, India, on 13 January 1823 and conducted the Burmese campaigns of 1824 to 1825, relinquishing his role of as Commander-in-Chief on 7 October 1825. He commanded the British troops who suppressed the Barrackpore mutiny of 1824. In 1826 he was appointed Governor of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
Following the retirement of Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in 1842, the post was reportedly offered to General Sir Edward Paget; Paget declined the offer, citing poor health as the reason for his refusal. The post was instead re-conferred upon Lord Hill's predecessor, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.
Member of Parliament
Paget was Member of Parliament for Caernarvon Boroughs from 1796 to 1806, and later as the Member for Milborne Port from 1810 to 1820.In 1806 his self-described political views centred upon his desire that the United Kingdom should "maintain our navy at its highest establishment and contrive some means of creating a real army of 200,000 men at home and never make peace as long as Europe remains in so complete a state of subjection."
Paget generally voted in support of the government of the day when he sat in Parliament, though he occasionally was recorded as voting in the Parliamentary minority; once in 1803 in support of John Calcraft's proposal for an inquiry into the Prince of Wales' debts, and again in 1812 in support of Henry Grattan's proposal to establish a committee investigating Catholic disabilities.
Courtier and honorary appointments
In 1798 he served as an Aide-de-camp to King George III.From 1816 to 1822 he was a Groom of the Bedchamber in the service of George IV, including a period 1816-1820 when the latter was Prince Regent during the mental illness of his father, George III.
Paget was appointment as Governor of Cowes Castle in 1818, and held the post until 1826.
From 1837 until his death he also served as Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea; a post which provided a stipend of £1,100 annually.