-
-
-
The Elusive Colonel
My
great-aunt Sarah Mary Gawn always related that we, the Co.
Antrim Gawns were descended from an army Colonel and he was
given a land grant in Ireland. My research, so far, has not
found a Colonel Gawn in the early 1700's to support this claim.
Some
information relating to possible ancestors involved in Army
service has come from correspondence sent to me by Robert
McConnell of New Zealand in which he included extracts that he
had gained from "English Army Lists and Commissions Registers"
from 1684 to 1709.
These
lists show that Alexander Gawen was commissioned as an Ensign in
the Royal Scots Regiment of Foot on 1 May 1684. On 28 February,
1685, he became a Second Lieutenant and held this rank until
1688 when he was deprived of his commission as a ringleader in
the mutiny of the regiment in December that year. This serious
state of affairs was a result of the revolution then taking
place in England whereby James II was ousted from the throne and
replaced by William of Orange and Mary. The regiment refused to
recognise the authority of the Prince of Orange and his
generals.
Having
received orders to embark for the Netherlands, to replace the
Dutch troops which were in England, the regiment mutinied, and,
seizing the money appointed for their pay, marched with four
pieces of cannon towards Scotland. Several regiments were sent
in pursuit and 500 men and 20 officers of the Royal Scots
Regiment were taken prisoner in Lincolnshire. Three or four of
the ringleaders were dismissed from the service and the
remainder were pardoned.
-
In his
book The Lowland
Regiments, Sir
Herbert Maxwell states:
“Being
hopelessly outnumbered and surrounded, they surrendered; the
ringleaders, were convicted of high treason at Bury assizes; but
King William, who is said to have expressed a strong admiration
for the loyalty of the regiment to James, only cashiered Lieut.
Gawen, who had headed the rising”.
-
This
incident was the occasion of the Mutiny Act, the basis of our
present Army Act.
This was
not the end of Alexander’s army career as is seen in two House
of Lords Reports in 1708 and 1709. The first From: House of
Lords Journal Volume 18: 14 December 1708 is as follows: Sir J.
Gray versus D. Hamilton & al.
"Upon
reading the Petition and Appeal of Sir James Gray Baronet, from
a Sentence or Decree of the Lords of Council of (fn. *) Session
in North Britain, on the Behalf of Charles Earl of Salkirk, and
the Affirmance thereof, the One and Thirtieth of July One
Thousand Seven Hundred and Eight, in Causes between the said Sir
James Gray and James Duke of Hamilton, and between the said
Charles Earl of Salkirk, James Duke of Hamilton, and Sir James
Gray, and Alexander Gawne, touching the Payment of One Thousand
Pounds, and Interest, therein mentioned; and praying, "That the
said Sentence or Decree, and the Affirmation thereof, may be
repealed and set aside; and that the said James Duke of Hamilton
Charles Earl of Salkirk, and Alexander Gawne, may put in their
Answers to the said Appeal:
It is
Ordered, by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament
assembled, That the said James Duke of Hamilton, Charles Earl of
Salkirk, and Alexander Gawne, may have a Copy of the said
Appeal; and do put in their Answer or respective Answers
thereunto, in Writing, on or before Tuesday the Five and
Twentieth Day of January next, at Eleven a Clock in the
Forenoon."
The second report is in
The 'House of Lords Journal Volume 18: 25 January 1709', Journal
of the House of Lords: volume 18: 1705-1709. It reads as
follows: Sir J. Gray versus D. Hamilton & al.
The House
being informed, "That the Duke of Hamilton, and the Earl of Silkirk, and Captain Gawn, were, by Order of this House, to put
in their Answer to Sir James Gray's Appeal this Day; and that
the Earl of Silkirk is on the Road from Scotland; and that Sir
James Gray desires they may have a further Day, for answering to
his Appeal:"
"It is
Ordered, by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament
assembled, That the Duke of Hamilton, the Earl of Silkirk, and
Captain Gawen, have hereby Time allowed them, for answering
thereunto, until Monday the Seventh Day of February next, at
Eleven a Clock."
Sir
Herbert Maxwell also recorded that a “Robert Gawne was
commissioned as an ensign in the Royal Scots Regiment of Foot in
April, 1707. In 1712 Robert became a Lieutenant and in 1738 a
Captain in which rank he was serving in 1740”.
It could
be that he gained further promotion and became a Colonel before
he retired. A possible birth date for this Robert would have
been about 1690. This would make him a possible candidate to be
the father of John, possibly born in 1720 or later, and the
unnamed Gawn, buried in Kilbride, who, we know, was born in
1737.
Top of page
|