Historical Record of the Fourth, or the King's Own, Regiment of Foot / Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1680, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1839

by Richard Cannon

WILLIAM SEYMOUR.

Appointed 12th February, 1702.

William Seymour obtained a commission in the royal regiment of fusiliers (now seventh foot) when that corps was raised in the summer of 1685; and two years afterwards he commanded a company. In 1691 he was appointed major, and in 1692 lieut.-colonel of the second regiment of foot guards. He served under King William in the Netherlands, and was wounded at the battle of Landen in 1693. In the following year he succeeded Lord Cutts in the colonelcy of one of the regiments of foot raised in 1689. After the peace of Ryswick his regiment was disbanded; and on the 1st of March, 1701, he succeeded Louis Marquis of Puizar in the colonelcy of a regiment, now the twenty-fourth foot, from which he was removed in 1702 to the Queen's, now King's Own, regiment, and promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. He commanded a brigade before Cadiz in 1702, and was wounded at Vigo. He was subsequently appointed to the command of the six regiments of marines; was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1704, to that of lieut.-general in 1707, retired from the regiment in 1717, and died in 1727.

THE HONOURABLE HENRY BERKELEY.

Appointed 25th December, 1717.

Henry Berkeley, third son of Charles second Earl of Berkeley, was page of honour to the Duke of Gloucester, son of Queen Anne; and after his Royal Highness's decease, he was page of honour to her Majesty Queen Anne. He obtained a commission in the army in December, 1709; in June, 1717, he was appointed first commissioner for executing the office of master of the horse to King George I.; and in December following he was promoted to the colonelcy of the King's Own, from which he was removed in 1719, to the Scots troop of horse grenadier guards. He was one of the King's equerries, and a member of parliament for the county of Gloucester; and died at Bath in May, 1736.

CHARLES CADOGAN.

Appointed 21st April, 1719.

Charles Cadogan entered the army in 1706, and served in Flanders under the celebrated John Duke of Marlborough. He was a member of parliament for the borough of Reading, also for Newport in Southamptonshire. In 1715 he was appointed captain and lieut.-colonel in the second foot guards; and in 1719 he purchased the colonelcy of the King's Own regiment. He succeeded, on the decease of his brother, the celebrated William Earl Cadogan, in 1726, to the dignity of Lord Cadogan, Baron of Oakley; and in 1734 he was removed to the Inniskilling dragoons. In 1739 he was promoted to the rank of major-general; in 1742 he was appointed colonel of the second troop (now second regiment) of life guards, which gave him the privilege of taking the court duty of gold stick; and in 1745 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. The government of Sheerness was conferred upon his lordship in 1749, that of Gravesend and Tilbury in 1752, and in 1761 he was promoted to the rank of general. His lordship was a fellow of the Royal Society, and one of the trustees of the British Museum; he died in 1776.

WILLIAM BARRELL.