General Sir Henry Fane GCB

Henry Fane was born on 26 Nov 1778, the eldest son of Henry Fane of Fulbeck Hall, Lincolnshire, and Anne Batson. His grandfather was Thomas Fane, 8th Earl of Westmorland. He was commissioned as a cornet into the 6th Dragoon Guards in 1792, promoted to lieutenant in the 55th Foot. He then served in the 4th Dragoons Guards from 1795, until he was transferred to the King's Dragoon Guards as lieutenant-colonel commandant in December 1804, but his duties as ADC to George III took him away from the regiment and his period of command only lasted a few months. Fane replaced Lieutenant-Colonel John Eliott who was cashiered for fraudulent dealing in horses. Eliott and Fane were both absentee commanding officers which undermined the discipline of the regiment.
He was promoted to brigadier-general and put in command of an infantry brigade. He saw active service in the Peninsula War, at Vimeiro in 1808, Corunna in 1809, Talavera in 1809, Bussaco 1810. In 1813 he was promoted to major-general and commanded a cavalry brigade of the 3rd Dragoon Guards and Royal Dragoons at Vitoria. He was then transferred to the Light Cavalry Brigade for the battles of Orthez and Toulouse.
He was appointed Knight Commander of the Bath in 1815, upgraded to GCB in 1826. He was appointed Colonel of the King’s Dragoon Guards on 24 Feb 1827. He was MP at various times for Lyme Regis, Sandwich and Hastings. In 1835 he was made Commander-in-Chief of India. He was never properly married but from 1801 he lived with Isabella Gorges who had married Edward Cooke in 1791. They had six children, three of which died in infancy. Sir Henry Fane died of a disease contracted in India on 24 Mar 1840 while he was sailing home from Bombay. He was buried in Fulbeck, in a tomb designed by Edward Hodges Baily. A memorial plaque is on the wall of St Nicholas Church, Fulbeck.

Regimental Details | Colonels | Commanding Officers