General Charles Murray Cathcart, 2nd Earl Cathcart GCB


Charles Murray Cathcart was born at Walton in Essex on 21 Dec 1783. He was the son of General William Schaw Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart. His mother was Elizabeth Eliott, daughter of the Lieutenant-Governor of New York. The Earl and his wife had 10 children but Charles was the eldest surviving son. He was educated at Eton and commissioned into the 2nd Life Guards on 2 Mar 1800. He served as a major in the Walcheren Expedition in 1809 including the siege of Flushing. But the expedition was plagued by sickness which affected Cathcart. His next military service abroad was in the Peninsula where he fought at Barrosa, Salamanca and Vitoria for which he was appointed AQMG. In 1814 his father became 1st Earl Cathcart and Charles was then known by the courtesy title of Lord Greenock.

In 1814 he was heading the QMG staff in Holland and was then, in June 1815, at Waterloo where he had three horses shot under him. He was awarded the Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) and in 1823 promoted to lieutenant-colonel commanding the Royal Staff Corps at Hythe. In 1830, with the rank of major-general, he moved to Edinburgh and became involved in the Highland Society. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and his contribution was the discovery of a new mineral, a sulphide of cadmium. This was found during the excavation of the Bishopton tunnel near Port Glasgow and came to be called Greenockite. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Scotland in February 1837 and as such, Governor of Edinburgh Castle. He was upgraded to KCB in 1838 and promoted to lieutenant-general in 1841. On 30 Aug 1842 he was appointed Colonel of the 11th Hussars.

His father died on his estate near Glasgow on 16 June 1843 so that Charles inherited the title 2nd Earl Cathcart. In 1846 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of British North America. On 19 Nov 1847 he transferred from the 11th Hussars to be Colonel of the 3rd Dragoon Guards. Then in 1850 he was given the home command of the Northern and Midland District. On 9 Jan 1851 he transferred as Colonel of the 3rd DG to be Colonel of the King’s Dragoon Guards. He retired from army service in 1855 at the age of 72. He was married on 30 Sep 1818 to Henrietta Mather. They had 5 children although one son died in infancy. The surviving children were two daughters Adelaide and Elizabeth, and Alan who became 3rd Earl Cathcart, and Augustus who was a colonel in the Grenadier Guards. Charles died on 16 July 1859 at St Leonards-on-Sea.


Canada | Administrators


Armed Forces | Art and Culture | Articles | Biographies | Colonies | Discussion | Glossary | Home | Library | Links | Map Room | Sources and Media | Science and Technology | Search | Student Zone | Timelines | TV & Film | Wargames


by Stephen Luscombe