Felton Hervey-Bathurst


Colonel Sir Felton Elwell Hervey-Bathurst, 1st Baronet,, was an officer in the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars.

Early life

Born Felton Elwell Hervey in 1782, he was a son of Lieutenant Felton Lionel Hervey and his wife Selina Elwill. His father worked for the exchequer before committing suicide in a London gunsmiths in 1785.
His paternal grandfather was Felton Hervey. His mother was the only daughter and heir of Sir John Elwill, 4th Baronet, and his wife Selina Bathurst.
In 1801, the younger Felton assumed, by Royal licence, the additional surname of Bathurst after his maternal grandmother.

Career

On 6May 1806, Hervey-Bathurst was appointed a major in 14th Light Dragoons. In December 1808 went with his regiment to join the British Army in Iberia engaged in the Peninsula War. He lost his right arm at the Battle of Douro, but by 2 August 1810 was well enough to be promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and to command of the 14th Light Dragoons from 1811 to 1814. During this time he fought in a number of engagements being wound again at the battles Fuentes de Oñoro and the El Bodon.
He was brevetted Colonel On 4July 1814 and appointed Aide-de-camp to the Prince Regent. During the Waterloo Campaign he served on the Duke of Wellington's staff, and was Wellington's representative at the negotiations for the surrender of Paris, signing the Convention of St. Cloud on 3July 1815.

Hervey-Bathurst baronetcy

His baronetcy was created on 7December 1818, with remainder, failing heirs male of his own, to the heirs male of his father.

Personal life

On 24 April 1817 at Apsley House, home of the Duke of Wellington, Felton Hervey was married to Louisa Catherine Caton, the third daughter of Richard Caton, a merchant of Baltimore, Maryland who was born in Lancashire. Among her siblings was sister Marianne and Elizabeth.
The marriage certificate was witnessed by Wellington, Bathurst, Lord Liverpool, The Duke of Westminster, John Quincy Adams, the Earl of Leicester and the Duke of Montellano, and is stored at the National Archives Kew.
After his death on 24 September 1819, he was succeeded according to the special remainder by his next brother, Frederick Anne Hervey-Bathurst, the 2nd Hervey-Bathurst baronet. In 1828, his widow remarried to Francis D'Arcy-Osborne, later the 7th Duke of Leeds.

Honors and medals

Medals received for battle were: