Charles Cathcart, 2nd Earl Cathcart

The Earl Cathcart
Lord Cathcart.
Born	21 December 1783 Walton, Essex, England
Died	16 July 1859(1859-07-16) (aged 75) St Leonards-on-Sea, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Napoleonic Wars Walcheren Expedition Battle of Waterloo
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Charles Murray Cathcart, 2nd Earl Cathcart GCB FRSE (Walton-on-the-Naze 21 December 1783 – 16 July 1859 St Leonards-on-Sea), styled Lord Greenock between 1814 and 1843, was a British Army general who became Governor General of the Province of Canada and Lieutenant Governor of Canada West (26 November 1845 – 30 January 1847). He was a keen amateur geologist, with enough recognition to warrant being made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Life

Cathcart, eldest surviving son of William Schaw Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart, was born at Walton, Essex, on 21 December 1783, entered the army as a cornet in the 2nd life guards on 2 March 1800. He served on the staff of Sir James Craig in Naples and Sicily. He became heir apparent to the lordship of Cathcart in 1804 earldom after his brother William Cathcart, Master of Cathcart, died while commanding a Royal Navy vessel in the West Indies. After his father was elevated to an earldom in 1814 he became known by the courtesy title Lord Greenock.

Cathcart saw service in the Walcheren Expedition in 1809 and the siege of Flushing, after which for some time he was disabled by the injurious effects of the pestilence which cut off so many thousands of his companions. Becoming lieutenant-colonel on 30 August 1810, he embarked for the Peninsula, where he was present at the Battle of Barrosa, for which he received a gold medal on 6 April 1812, at the Battle of Salamanca, and the Battle of Vitoria, during which he served as assistant quartermaster-general.

He was next sent to assist Lord Lynedoch in Holland as the head of the quartermaster-general's staff, and was afterwards present at the Battle of Waterloo, where he had three horses shot under him. He was awarded the Russian order of St. Wladimir, the Dutch order of St. Wilhelm, and the CB. In 1823 he was appointed a lieutenant-colonel in the royal staff corps at Hythe.

In 1830 he moved to Edinburgh where lived at "Whitehouse villa" on Bruntsfield Links. He became involved in the proceedings of the Highland Society, became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and where he announced the discovery of a new mineral, a sulphide of cadmium, which was found in excavating the Bishopton tunnel near Port Glasgow and which is now known as Greenockite. On 17 February 1837 he was made Commander-in-Chief, Scotland and Governor of Edinburgh Castle. On 17 June 1838, on the death of his father, he became second earl and eleventh baron Cathcart. On 16 March 1846 he was appointed commander-in-chief in British North America from 16 March 1846 and in 1850 he was appointed to the command of the Northern and Midland District, and in 1854 he retired.

Family

On 30 September 1818 he married Henrietta Mather, daughter of Thomas Mather in France. The couple remarried at Portsea, England, 12 February 1819. Lady Cathcart accompanied her husband, and their daughters, to Canada in June, 1845. Lady Cathcart presented colours to one of the militia regiments in Montreal. The family returned to England in May, 1847. She died on 24 June 1872. He died at St. Leonard's-on-Sea on 16 July 1859.

Publications

He was the author of two papers in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1836, On the Phenomena in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh of the Igneous Rocks in their relation to the Secondary Strata, and The Coal Formation of the Scottish Lowlands.

See also

• List of Lieutenant Governors of Ontario
• List of Lieutenant Governors of Quebec

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl Cathcart
• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online

Military offices
Preceded by Hon. Patrick Stuart	Commander-in-Chief, Scotland 1837–1842	Succeeded by Sir Neil Douglas
Preceded by Sir Arthur Clifton	Colonel of the 11th (Prince Albert's Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Hussars) 1842–1847	Succeeded by Sir Henry Wyndham
Preceded by Sir Richard Downes Jackson	Commander-in-Chief, North America 1846–1847	Succeeded by Sir Benjamin D'Urban
Preceded by Francis Newbery	Colonel of the 3rd (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards 1847–1851	Succeeded by James Claud Bourchier
Preceded by Sir William Lumley	Colonel of the 1st (King's) Dragoon Guards 1851–1859	Succeeded by Sir Thomas Brotherton
Political offices
Preceded by The Lord Metcalfe	Governor General of the Province of Canada 1846–1847	Succeeded by The Earl of Elgin
Academic offices
Preceded by The Lord Metcalfe	Chancellor of King's College 1846–1847	Succeeded by The Earl of Elgin
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by William Cathcart	Earl Cathcart 1843–1859	Succeeded by Alan Cathcart