Isaac_Gascoyne

Isaac Gascoyne

Isaac Gascoyne

British Army general

Isaac Gascoyne (21 August 1763[1] – 26 August 1841) was a British Army officer and Tory politician. He was born at Barking, Essex on 21 August 1763,[2] the third son of Bamber Gascoyne (senior) and Mary Green and was educated at Felsted School.

Quick Facts Member of Parliament for Liverpool, Personal details ...

Military career

On 8 February 1779, Gascoyne was commissioned as a British Army Officer, joining the 20th Regiment of Foot with the rank of Ensign. In July of the following year, still as an Ensign, he transferred to the Coldstream Guards. Gradually rising in rank, he became a Lieutenant on 18 August 1784 and Captain on 5 December 1792, and fought at the Battle of Lincelles in 1793, where he was wounded, but continued to hold various posts into the 1810s, becoming Lieutenant Colonel of the 16th Regiment of Foot on 7 June 1799, Major-General on 29 April 1802, Colonel of the 7th West India Regiment on 10 October 1805, Lieutenant-General on 25 April 1808, and was Colonel of the 54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot from 1 June 1816.[3]

In August 1819 he was promoted to General in charge of the 54th Foot regiment.[4]

Political career

In 1796, Gascoyne was elected as a Member of Parliament for Liverpool, succeeding his elder brother, Bamber Gascoyne.[5] While there, he used his position to strongly oppose the abolition of the Slave Trade[6] and the Reform Act 1832. He also opposed both the abolition of bull-baiting and Catholic Emancipation.

In 1811, Gascoyne received a number of petitions from Liverpool resident John Bellingham, calling for him to take up his claim for compensation from the British government for a period of imprisonment he had suffered in Russia. In May 1812, Bellingham entered the lobby of the House of Commons and shot Prime Minister Spencer Perceval dead. Gascoyne was able to recognise Bellingham, providing leads in the immediate aftermath.[7][8]

In 1831, Gascoyne moved a motion opposing a reduction of the seats allocated to England.[9] The Government opposed this, holding that it was necessary to address the over-representation of England. When Gascoyne's motion was carried, the Government called the 1831 general election, in an attempt to gain a clear majority for reform.[10]

Gascoyne lost his seat on 4 May after the 1831 election, and died on 26 August 1841 at 71 South Audley Street, London, from an inflammation in his bowels.[11] He was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery, London.

Personal life and family

He has an extensive biographical entry in the Dictionary of National Biography.[12]

Isaac Gascoyne was the father of General Ernest Frederick Gascoyne, of Raby Hall, Liverpool (1796–1867),[13] who was the great-great-great-grandfather of television presenter Bamber Gascoigne.[14]

His daughter Charlotte Gascoyne married on 13 October 1821 Rear Admiral Hon. George Pryse Campbell (1793 – 12 January 1858), son of John Campbell of Cawdor, 1st Baron Cawdor of Castlemartin, and Lady Isabella Caroline Howard.

Notes and references

  1. [1]
    His date of birth is often given as 1770 in Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, p. 729, but that is inconsistent with an Army Commission in 1779.
  2. [2]
    Lundy, Darryl. "Person Page – 4739". The Peerage.
  3. [3]
     Chichester, Henry Manners (1890). "Gascoyne, Isaac". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 21. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 48–49.
  4. [4]
    Hart's Army Lists 1839
  5. [5]
    Port, M. H. (2006). "Gascoyne, Isaac (c.1763–1841)". In Thorne, R. (ed.). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790–1820. London: Haynes. ISBN 9780436521010.
  6. [6]
    "European Profits". International Slavery Museum. National Museums Liverpool. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  7. [7]
    Linklater, Andro (2012). Why Spencer Perceval Had to Die: The Assassination of a British Prime Minister. London: A & C Black. pp. 15–17. ISBN 9781408828403.
  8. [8]
    Stratford, Stephen. "Spencer Percival". British Military & Criminal History. Archived from the original on 9 October 2006. Retrieved 17 December 2006.
  9. [9]
    Escott, Margaret (2009). "Gascoyne, Isaac (c.1763–1832)". In Fisher, D. R. (ed.). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1820-1820. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521193146.
  10. [10]
    Bloy, Marjorie. "The Reform Act Crisis: a Table of Events". The Peel Web. A Web of English History. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  11. [11]
    Urban, Sylvanus, ed. (1841). "Obituary – General Gascoyne". The Gentleman's Magazine. New Series XVI: 542.
  12. [12]
    Matthew, H. C. G., editor, Dictionary of National Biography on CD-ROM (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1995), reference "Isaac Gascoyne".
  13. [13]
    "Stirnet". stirnet.com. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  14. [14]
    "Conqueror 170". william1.co.uk. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
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