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Henry William was the most prominent member of the Paget family, of which there were many, some of them quite important in their own right. He had three changes of title and one change of name when his father changed the family name from Bayley to Paget in 1770. So to clarify he was known by these titles:
1768-1770 Henry William Bayley Henry William Bayley was born in London on the 17th May 1768 and two years later became Henry Paget. He was educated at Westminster School and Christchurch Oxford. His many siblings also achieved fame, amongst them was Captain William Paget, Sir Arthur Paget, General Sir Edward Paget, Vice Admiral Sir Charles Paget and Major The Hon.Berkeley Paget of the 7th Light Dragoons. Henry William had a parliamentary career, starting with his election victory in 1790 at Carnarvon and also in 1796 at Milborne Port. In 1804 he was Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds. In the 1820s he was the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland but fell foul of the government when he declared his support for Catholic emancipation. His military career culminated with the rank of Field Marshal two years before he died in 1854. He was one of the best cavalry commanders in British military history and achieved fame when he led the heavy cavalry into d'Erlon's Corps at Waterloo which turned the tide in favour of the allies to bring the Napoleonic wars to an end. He served in the Peninsula and at Waterloo, working closely with Arthur, the Duke of Wellington. Unfortunately his relationship with him was severely strained when he had an affair with Charlotte the wife of Arthur's brother, Henry Wellesley. Henry Paget was already married, with 8 children, but in 1810 both he and Charlotte divorced their spouses and married each other. They went on to have 10 children. In the Waterloo campaign he organised the cavalry's cover of the retreat from Quatre Bras, and on the day itself he ordered the charge of the 1,000 strong heavy brigade at d'Erlon's Corps which scattered the infantry but was spoiled by the lack of control once the objective had been accomplished. The cavalry just kept going, pursuing the fleeing French. Towards the end of the battle a cannonball took Paget's leg off as he sat on his horse next to Wellington. He had to have it amputated without anaesthetic but was quite stoical, commenting at one stage that he thought the knife was quite blunt. The shattered leg was buried on the battlefield and marked with a monument.
1768 born in London on 17th May |
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