George Hewett (British Army officer)

Sir

George Hewett

Bt
Born(1750-06-11)11 June 1750
Died21 March 1840(1840-03-21) (aged 89)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchBritish Army
RankGeneral
CommandsIndian Army
Battles / warsAmerican Revolutionary War
AwardsKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Sir George Hewett, 1st Baronet GCB PC (Ire) (11 June 1750 – 21 March 1840) was a British Army general who was Commander-in-Chief, India and then Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.

Military career

Educated at Wimborne Grammar School and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Hewett was commissioned into the 70th Regiment of Foot in 1762.[1] In 1771, he went to New York to help control the Carib Uprising and in 1780 he took part in the Siege of Charlestown.[1]

In 1787, he was appointed Commanding Officer of the 43rd Regiment of Foot and in 1791, he went to Ireland where he became Adjutant-General (serving there until 1799).[2] He raised a new Regiment which was designated the 92nd Regiment of Foot.[1][3]

He returned to England, where he served as Inspector General of Recruiting for the British Army from 1798 to 1804.[4] He was given the colonelcy of the 61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot for life in 1800 and became Barrackmaster-General in 1804.[1] In 1807, he became Commander-in-Chief, India and in 1809 he briefly took over the Government of India while the Governor-General put down a mutiny.[1] His last appointment was as Commander-in-Chief, Ireland in 1813.[1]

He was created a Baronet, of Nether Seale in the County of Leicester, on 6 November 1813.[5]

He lived at Freemantle Park near Southampton.[1]

Family

In 1785, he married Julia Johnson and together they went on to have five sons and six daughters, including Col. Sir George Henry Hewett, 2nd Baronet and Lieutenant-Colonel William Hewett.[1][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h George Hewett at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  2. ^ "Bonhams : IRELAND - WOLFE TONE, TEELING AND THE RISING OF 1798 Files of documents, kept by George Hewett, Adjutant-General of the British Army in Ireland 1791-99 and Commander-in-Chief of Ireland, 1813-16". www.bonhams.com. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  3. ^ "'Rt Honble Genl Sir George Hewett, Bart. G.C.B.', 1815 (c) | Online Collection | National Army Museum, London". collection.nam.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  4. ^ Glover, Richard (1963). Peninsular Preparation: the Reform of the British Army 1795-1809. Cambridge University Press. p. 219.
  5. ^ Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.
  6. ^ Notes and Queries. Oxford University Press. 1891. pp. 405–406.
Military offices
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Ireland
1813–1816 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, India
1807 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Colonel of the 61st Regiment of Foot
1800–1840 		Succeeded by
John Gardiner
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baronet
(of Nether Seale)
1813–1840 		Succeeded by