General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

John Chapple Norton (2 April 1746 – 19 March 1818) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who served in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and who later became a Member of Parliament for

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

Early life

John Chapple Norton was born on 2 April 1746 to

Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley, PC (23 June 1716 – 1 January 1789) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1756 to 1782 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Grantley. Life and career Norton was ...

and Grace Chapple.

Military career

He joined the British army, becoming a captain in the 19th Foot in 1763. After serving with the regiment in Gibraltar he transferred to the Royal Regiment of Foot in 1769, before being appointed a lieutenant-colonel in the

2nd Foot Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

. He served with the Foot Guards in North America during the War of Independence and was involved in several of the actions there, including leading the attack on Young's House. In 1795 he was rewarded with the colonelcy of the

81st Regiment of Foot The 81st Regiment of Foot (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot to form the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment i ...

and in 1797, he was promoted lieutenant-general and transferred to the colonelcy of the 56th Foot. In 1802 he was made general and soon afterwards Governor of Charlemont, the Irish fort.

Political career

He represented

, Surrey as their Member of Parliament from 1784 to 1790, from 1796 to 1806 and from 1807 to 1812.

Later life and death

He died unmarried at the family seat of Wonersh Park in Surrey in 1818.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Chapple 1746 births 1818 deaths Younger sons of barons 56th Regiment of Foot officers 81st Regiment of Foot officers British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War British Army generals Green Howards officers Coldstream Guards officers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1807–1812