SIR CHARLES O'HARA,
Appointed 12th November, 1696.
Charles O'Hara was an officer of the English brigade in the Dutch service in the time of King Charles II., and commanded a company in the Earl of Ossory's regiment. He subsequently held a commission in the first foot guards, was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the regiment, and was knighted by King William III. at Whitehall in 1689. He subsequently served under His Majesty in Flanders; was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general in 1695, and was rewarded with the colonelcy of the Royal Fusiliers in 1696. On the breaking out of the war of the Spanish succession, he was advanced to the rank of major-general, and he commanded a brigade under the Duke of Ormond in the expedition against Cadiz in 1702, on which occasion he was charged with participating in the plunder of Port St. Mary's, and brought to trial, but acquitted: in 1704 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. In 1706 Queen Anne advanced him to the dignity of a peer of Ireland by the title of Baron of Tyrawley in the county of Mayo; and proceeding to Spain, he commanded the left wing of the allied army at the battle of Almanza, in 1707, where he was wounded. His Lordship was sworn a member of the privy council of Queen Anne in 1710; and also of King George I. in 1714; and in November, 1714, he was promoted to the rank of general. He had previously resigned the colonelcy of the Royal Fusiliers in favour of his son; and on the breaking out of the rebellion in 1715 he raised a regiment of foot in Ireland; this corps was, however, disbanded in 1718. He held, for several years, the appointment of commander-in-chief in Ireland; also the government of Minorca, and of the Royal Hospital near Dublin. He died on the 8th of June, 1724.
THE HONOURABLE JAMES O'HARA,
Appointed 29th January, 1713.
The Hon. James O'Hara was appointed lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers, commanded by his father, on the 15th of March, 1703, and in 1706 he proceeded with his regiment to the relief of Barcelona. In the following year he served on the staff of the army in Spain, and was wounded at the battle of Almanza, where, it is said, he was instrumental in saving the Earl of Galway's life. He served several years at Minorca, and in 1713 he succeeded his father in the colonelcy of the Royal Fusiliers. In 1721 King George I. advanced him to the dignity of Baron of Kilmaine; and in 1724 he succeeded his father in the title of Baron of Tyrawley, and was sworn a member of the privy council in the same year. The rank of brigadier-general was conferred on his lordship on the 23rd of November, 1735; that of major-general on the 2nd of July, 1739; and in August of the latter year he was removed from the Royal Fusiliers to the fifth horse, now fourth dragoon guards. In March, 1743, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general, and in the following month obtained the colonelcy of the second troop of horse grenadier guards, from which he was removed, in 1745, to the third troop of life guards, which gave him the privilege of taking the court duty of Gold Stick. In 1746, when King George II. had resolved to disband the third and fourth troops of life guards, his lordship was removed to the tenth foot; he was again removed, in 1749, to the fourteenth dragoons; in 1752, to the third dragoons; and, in 1755, to the second, or Coldstream regiment of foot guards. He was appointed governor of Portsmouth on the 1st of May, 1759, and was promoted to the rank of general on the 7th of March, 1761. He held the appointment of governor of Minorca for several years; and was employed as envoy and ambassador to the courts of Portugal and Russia. He died at Twickenham on the 13th of July, 1773.