Havilland Le Mesurier
Havilland Le Mesurier | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 8, 1758 |
| Died | March 5, 1806 |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/ | British Army |
| Rank | Commissary-General |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Dobrée (d. 1804) |
Commissary-General Havilland Le Mesurier (1758-1806) was a British merchant and commissary officer who also published on military matters.[1]
He was born on 8 May 1758 in Guernsey. His parents were John Le Mesurier (1717-1793), hereditary Governor of Alderney, and his wife Martha (d.1764). He attended Winchester School from 1770-71, before joining the business of his father and eldest brother. They ran a merchant house that profited from privateering in the American War of Independence. In 1782 he married Elizabeth Dobrée of Guernsey (died 1804). [1]
After war broke out with France in 1793, and with his business suffering as a result, Le Mesurier took a commission in the army sent to assist the Dutch. He was promoted swiftly to deputy commissary-general, winning praise for his hard work during the winter of 1794-5. After he returned from the continent, he set up anew as a merchant with another brother. [1]
In 1797 he was appointed commissary-general of southern England, in response to the threat of invasion. He resigned in 1800, when the post of commissary-general of all England went to Brook Watson, with whom he had worked during the Dutch campaign [2] but whom he did not respect. [1] In 1801, with a new government in place, Le Mesurier was appointed as commissary-general to the army preparing to return from Egypt, and also saw service in Naples and Malta. [1]
He died on 5 March 1806, leaving a widow and five children. [1] His eldest [3] son was also a military officer, Colonel Havilland Le Mesurier. [4]
Works
- A System for the British Commissariat on Foreign Service (1796)
- The British Commissary (1798)
- Thoughts on a French Invasion (1798)
- Two Letters to the Commissioners of Army Accounts (1806)
References
- ^ a b c d e f W. R. Meyer, ‘Le Mesurier, Havilland (1758–1806)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 3 April 2016
- ^ Macdonald, J. From Boiled Beef to Chicken Tikka: 500 Years of Feeding the British Army. Frontline Books. (2014) [1]
- ^ Le Mesurier-Foster, R. The Rough Index to the Le Mesurier Family. 4th edition, 2010. [2]
- ^ Brock Tupper, F. Family Records (1835) [3]