John Mostyn
Bornc. 1709
Died16 February 1779
AllegianceKingdom of Great Britain
Service/branchBritish Army
RankGeneral

General John Mostyn (c.1709 – 16 February 1779) was a British soldier, MP and colonial administrator.

He was a younger son of Sir Roger Mostyn, 3rd Baronet and educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford.

He joined the army as an Ensign in 1733. On 2 September 1743, he was promoted from captain in the 31st Regiment of Foot to captain-lieutenant in the 2nd Regiment of Foot Guards. On 2 April 1745, he was promoted to captain of a company, and was wounded the next month at the Battle of Fontenoy.[1] He served as Groom of the Bedchamber to King George II from 1746 to his death. From 1751 to 1754 he held the colonelcy of the 7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fuzileers), from 1754 to 1758 that of the 13th Regiment of Dragoons, from 1758 to 1760 that of the 5th (or Royal Irish) Regiment of Dragoons,[2] from 1760 to 1763 that of the 7th (The Queens Own) Regiment of Dragoons and from 1763 to 1779 that of the 1st King's Dragoon Guards. He was promoted to the rank of General in 1772.

Mostyn served as Governor of Menorca for a ten-year period between 1768 and 1778. It was an appointment in name only, and Mostyn was not in residence on the island, which meant that his deputy was in effective charge – from 1774 this was James Murray, his eventual successor who was forced to surrender the island in 1782 to a Spanish force.[3]

He died unmarried.

See also

References

  1. ^ Mackinnon, Daniel (1833). Origin and Services of the Coldstream Guards. Vol. II. London: Richard Bentley. pp. 482–483.
  2. ^ "5th Royal Irish Lancers". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 9 June 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2016.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^ "James Murray". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Retrieved 23 January 2016.

Sources

Parliament of Great Britain Preceded byHenry FinchLord James Cavendish Member of Parliament for Malton 1741–1768 With: Henry Finch 1741–61Savile Finch 1761–68 Succeeded bySavile FinchThe Viscount Downe Military offices Preceded byWilliam Hargrave Colonel of the 7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fuzileers) 1751–1754 Succeeded byLord Robert Bertie Preceded byHon. Henry Seymour Conway Colonel of the 13th Regiment of Dragoons 1754–1758 Succeeded byArchibald Douglas Preceded byThe Viscount Molesworth Colonel of the 5th (or Royal Irish) Regiment of Dragoons 1758–1760 Succeeded byHon. Joseph Yorke Preceded bySir John Cope Colonel of the 7th (The Queen's Own) Regiment of Dragoons 1760–1763 Succeeded bySir George Howard Preceded byHumphrey Bland Colonel of the 1st (The King's) Dragoon Guards 1763–1779 Preceded bySir George Howard Governor of Menorca 1768–1778 Succeeded byJames Murray
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