Major William Caulfeild was an

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

in the

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 ...

who is primarily known for his work supervising road and bridge construction in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

in the 18th century.

Early life

He was born in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, the son of the Hon. Toby Caulfeild who was a son of the first

Viscount Charlemont Viscount Charlemont is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1665 for William Caulfeild, 5th Baron Charlemont. The Caulfeild family descends from Sir Toby Caulfeild, originally of Oxfordshire, England. He was a noted soldier an ...

. By the early 1730s, Caulfeild was serving as a Subaltern in the British Army.

Roads and Bridges

General Wade Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal George Wade (1673 – 14 March 1748) was a British Army officer and politician who served in the Nine Years' War, War of the Spanish Succession, Jacobite rising of 1715 and War of the Quadruple Al ...

appointed him Inspector of Roads for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in 1732. After the departure of

in 1740, Caulfeild became responsible for directing all construction of new roads and bridges in Scotland until his death. Although he is not as well known as Wade, he is associated with the construction of far more roads than his predecessor. General Wade was responsible for of road, 40 bridges and 2 forts – whereas Caulfeild was responsible for of road and over 600 bridges. The largest individual lengths of roads built under the direction of Caulfeild included the military roads from

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

to Fort William (93 miles),

Coupar Angus Coupar Angus (; Gaelic: ''Cupar Aonghais'') is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies on the River Isla in the broad and fertile Valley of Strathmore, south of Blairgowrie. The A94 road from Perth to Forfar runs through the town, a ...

to Fort George (100 miles), and Bridge of Sark to Port Patrick.

Other Duties

During the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...

Caulfeild also served in the position of quartermaster to Sir John Cope. In 1747, he was also made Deputy Governor of

Inverness Castle Inverness Castle () sits on a cliff overlooking the River Ness in Inverness, Scotland. A succession of castles have stood on this site since 1057, although the present structure dates from 1836. The present structure is a Category A listed buil ...

Personal life

Caulfeild had at least one son, whom he named Wade Toby Caulfeild after General Wade. In later life, Caulfeild lived at his home

Cradlehall Cradlehall was originally the name given to the hall built by Major William Caulfeild, later known as Cradlehall Farmhouse. The name "Cradle" supposedly comes from a pulley-operated lift (called a cradle) that was used to hoist drunken guests u ...

which was built just outside Inverness. Major Caulfeild died in 1767.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caulfeild, William 1767 deaths British Army officers Year of birth unknown British Army personnel of the Jacobite rising of 1745