IN THE REIGN OF GEORGE IV, SIR GUY CARLETON WAS THIRD GOVERNOR OF THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC; AND SERVED A SECOND TERM AS GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF CANADA, 1786-96.
THIS WAS an ancient family who removed from the north of England to Ulster.
Their ancestor BALDWIN was father of JEFFREY DE CARLETON.
LANCELOT CARLETON ESQ, of Rossfad, County Fermanagh, son and heir of Lancelot Carleton Esq, of Brampton Foot, in Gilsland, Cumberland, was slain in the service of CHARLES I.
He left, by Mary, his wife, daughter of William Irvine Esq, of Castle Irvine, County Fermanagh, two sons. The eldest son,
LANCELOT CARLETON ESQ, of Rossfad, High Sheriff of Fermanagh, 1683, and for Donegal, 1686; died ca 1693, leaving by Mary, his wife, daughter and heir of John Cathcart Esq, six sons. The 3rd son,
CHRISTOPHER CARLETON ESQ, of Newry, County Down, who wedded Catherine, daughter of Henry Ball Esq; and dying ca 1738, left issue, his 3rd son,
GENERAL SIR GUY CARLETON KB, who, in consideration of his eminent services during the first American war, was elevated to the peerage, in 1786, as BARON DORCHESTER, of Dorchester, Oxfordshire, having previously obtained a pension of £1,000 per annum for his own life and the lives of his lady and two elder sons.
Guy Carleton was born at Strabane, County Tyrone, in 1724; and went on to become Military Governor of Quebec.
He was instrumental in successfully challenging an invasion of Canada by the rebel forces of the American Colonies in 1776, when he was appointed to the Order of the Bath.
A plaque in Strabane reads,
Born at Bowling Green, Strabane, Carleton was commissioned ensign in 1742 in the 25th Foot rising rapidly through the ranks and serving in several campaigns notably in Canada as Captain General and Governor in Chief of Quebec from 1768.
His policies acknowledged the French colonists and incorporated the French system of land ownership and inheritance.
Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, KB (Strabane, Co. Tyrone, Ireland, 3 September 1724 – 10 November 1808 Stubbings, Maidenhead, Berkshire), known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Irish-British soldier who twice served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, from 1768–1778 (concurrently serving as Governor General of British North America), and from 1785–1795.He commanded British troops in the American Revolutionary War.
In 1742, he was commissioned as an Ensign in the 25th Regiment of Foot and in which in 1745 he was made a lieutenant. In 1751 he joined the 1st Foot Guards as a Captain and in 1752 a Captain and in 1757 was made a lieutenant colonel.
In 1758 he was made the lieutenant colonel of the newly formed 72nd Regiment of Foot. He became a friend of James Wolfe.In 1778, Sir Guy resigned the Governorship only to be brought out of retirement in 1782 to act as Commander in Chief of British Forces in North America.
In this capacity he oversaw the surrender of New York to George Washington (among whose personal bodyguard was Captain John Dunlap) and the evacuation of British troops from North America.
Sir Guy was ennobled as the Right Honourable Guy Carleton, Baron Dorchester, in 1786; and was appointed Commander-in-Chief, North America.
In 1772, Carleton married Maria, daughter of Thomas, 2nd Earl of Effingham.
His firm but fair administration at that time (especially in regard to recognising the status of French Canadians) was responsible for the successful inauguration of the respective institutions which became the foundations of modern Canada.
At the time of his death in 1808, Lord Dorchester was recognised as one of the most decisive figures of the 18th Century.
In retirement, Lord Dorchester lived mostly at Greywell Hill, adjoining Nately Scures, Hampshire.
After 1805, he moved to Stubbings House, Burchett's Green, near Maidenhead, Berkshire.
On November 10, 1808, he died suddenly at Stubbings. He was buried in the parish church of St Swithun's, Nately Scures.
His sons predeceased him and he was succeeded by his grandson,
ARTHUR HENRY [CARLETON], 2nd Baron (1805-26), who was succeeded by his cousin,
GUY [CARLETON], 3rd Baron (1811-75), who married, in 1837, Anne, daughter of Thomas Wauchope Esq. He had no sons and was succeeded by his first cousin,
DUDLEY WILMOT [CARLETON], 4th Baron (1822-97), the son of Rev and Hon Richard Carleton, younger son of the 1st Baron; Colonel, Coldstream Guards. He was childless and the title became extinct on his death in 1897.
THE PEERAGE was revived in 1899, when the Hon Henrietta Carleton was created BARONESS DORCHESTER, of Dorchester, Oxfordshire. She was the elder daughter of the 3rd Baron of the first creation.
Lady Dorchester was the wife of, firstly, Francis Paynton Pigott, and, secondly, of Major-General Richard Langford Leir. In 1899 she assumed by Royal license the surname of Carleton.
She was succeeded by her son from her first marriage,
DUDLEY MASSEY PIGOTT [CARLETON], (1876-1963), OBE, 2nd Baron of the 2nd creation. He married the Hon Kathleen, daughter of William, 6th Baron de Blaquiere, in 1911; educated at Wellington College, Berkshire; fought in the Boer War, 1899-1900; Lieutenant-Colonel, 9th Lancers; fought in the North Nigeria Campaign, 1902-3; Kano-Sokato Expedition; 1st World War.
He had two daughters but no sons and on his death in 1963 the title became extinct.
First published in December, 2009. Dorchester arms courtesy of European Heraldry.
2 comments:
There were Carletons in Portadown, can't find anything on their history though.
As he was born in Strabane, there must have been a house - and I'm presuming he didn't buy the land.
There were a lot of houses/castles gone, and even grand families lived in modest places, see the Annesleys before Castlewellan was built, there was a nice Queen Anne cottage - something akin to Derrymore House.
Wow, never knew he was from NI. Carleton University is in Ottawa, our capital, but sadly it is a left wing hotbed.
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