Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Arbuthnot, Thomas

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669867Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 02 — Arbuthnot, Thomas1885Alexander John Arbuthnot

ARBUTHNOT, Sir THOMAS (1776–1849), lieutenant-general, was the fifth son of John Arbuthnot, of Rockfleet, county Mayo [see Arbuthnot, Charles, and Sir Robert, lieutenant-general]. He entered the army as an ensign in the 29th foot in 1794, and after serving in that and other regiments joined the staff corps under Sir John Moore in 1803. He subsequently served as quartermaster-general at the Cape of Good Hope, whence, in 1808, he joined the army in the Peninsula, and was assistant quartermaster-general to General Picton's division during the greater part of the war. He was twice wounded, once in the West Indies and again in one of the latest actions in the Peninsula. He was appointed an aide-de-camp to the queen in 1814, and a K.C.B. in 1815. After commanding a regiment for some years, he was sent, in 1826, to Portugal in command of a brigade. He afterwards commanded a district in Ireland, and, having attained the rank of lieutenant-general in 1838, was appointed, in 1842, to the command of the northern and midland districts in England, which command he retained until his death in 1849. Sir Thomas Arbuthnot had a considerable military reputation. Sir Thomas Picton held him in high esteem, and the good opinion which the Duke of Wellington entertained of his judgment and efficiency was proved by his having selected him for the newly constituted command at Manchester at a time when the chartists were causing a good deal of anxiety in that part of the country.

[Annual Register, 1849; Hart's Army List; Horse Guards Records.]

A. J. A.

Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.8
N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line

Page Col. Line  
67 i 14 f.e. Arbuthnot, Sir Thomas: for queen read prince-regent
9 f.e. after rank of insert major-general in 1825, and of
5 f.e. for in 1849 read on 26 Jan. 1849