Lieutenant-General William Dowdeswell (27 February 1760 – 1 December 1828) was a British soldier and politician from

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

Career

The 3rd son of William Dowdeswell, he joined the army as a Lieutenant and Captain in the 1st Foot Guards in 1785. On the opening of the war with revolutionary France he served with his regiment in the Flanders Campaign under the Duke of York 1793, seeing action at the siege of Valenciennes and the Siege of Dunkirk. Made

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

of the 86th Foot 26 Jan 1797, Dowdeswell was appointed

Governor of the Bahamas This is a list of governors of the Bahamas. The first English settlement in the Bahamas was on Eleuthera. In 1670, the king granted the Bahamas to the lords proprietors of the Province of Carolina, but the islands were left to themselves. The lo ...

from 1797 to 1802. On 29th Sept 1803 he was promoted

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

, then was posted to India under

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

from 1805. He took part in the

siege of Bhurtpore The siege of Bharatpore was a siege that took place in the Indian princely state of Bharatpur (now part of Rajasthan) between December 1825 and January 1826. British troops under Lord Combermere initially surrounded the state's capital until ...

. He was made Commander-in-Chief in India in 1807, and promoted Lieutenant-General on 25 July 1810.Parishes: Bushley'
A History of the County of Worcester: volume 4 (1924), pp. 45–49. Date accessed: 28 December 2010 He was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Tewkesbury Tewkesbury ( ) is a medieval market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town has significant history in the Wars of the Roses and grew since the building of Tewkesbury Abbey. It stands at the confluence of the Ri ...

from 1792 to 1797. His family owned the Pull Court estate near

Bushley Bushley is a small village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills district in Worcestershire, England. The church is dedicated to Saint Peter. Bredon School is located to the north of the village. History William Dowdeswell (1721–1775), the ...

, and many of his ancestors had been MPs, including his father William Dowdeswell, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1785 to 1766. Dowdeswell was known as a collector of prints by old English engravers and made a speciality of grangerizing. He died unmarried in 1828, his estates, including Pull Court, passing to his younger brothers.

References

1750 births 1828 deaths People from Malvern Hills District Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 British Army lieutenant generals British Army commanders of the Napoleonic Wars British governors of the Bahamas {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub