Robert Barton (British Army officer)

Sir Robert Barton
Born	31 July 1768[1] Fethard, County Tipperary, Ireland[2]
Died	17 March 1853 (aged 84)[2] London, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Service / branch	British Army
Rank	General
Unit	11th Light Dragoons 2nd Life Guards
Battles / wars	French Revolutionary Wars Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland Napoleonic Wars Peninsular War
Awards	Knighthood

General Sir Robert Johnstone Barton, KCH (31 July 1768 – 17 March 1853) was an Anglo-Irish officer of the British Army. He saw service during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, particularly during the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland in 1799 and the Peninsular War.

Early life

Barton was the fifth son of William Barton of the Grove, County Tipperary, Ireland, and Grace Massy, daughter of Charles Massy, Dean of Limerick.^[2] Being in the south of France in 1790, he, like other British there, enrolled himself as a volunteer in the national guard, and received the thanks of the National Convention for his conduct at Moissac during the disorders at Montauban. He was the younger brother of Lieutenant-General Charles Barton and Thomas Barton, M.P.

Army career

Having returned to England he obtained a commission in the 11th Light Dragoons, with which he served under the Duke of York in 1795, and again during the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland in 1799, where he received the thanks of Sir Ralph Abercromby for his services on 8 September at Oude Carspel. Barton used his money to support boxers from Ireland although he was a supporter of Britain. He became lieutenant-colonel in the 2nd Life Guards in 1805, and commanded the regiment at the time of the Burdett riots in 1810, when the life guards acquired so much unpopularity.^[3] He also commanded the two squadrons of the regiment subsequently sent to the Iberian peninsula during the Peninsular War, where he served for a time. He was promoted to general's rank in 1819, and was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order and Knight Bachelor in 1837.

Personal life

Barton married firstly to Maria Painter, daughter of John Painter. They had a son, Hugh, and two daughters, Grace and Maria. He married secondly to Marianne Colette Addison, widow of Colonel John MacPherson of Pitmain, great-granddaughter of Archbishop Smith, and had a third daughter, Alexandrina Charlotte, who married Sir Henry Josias Durrant, 4th Baronet.^[2]

He died in London on 17 March 1853.

References

1. Fishwick, Henry (1900). The history of the parish of Preston in Amounderness. Rochdale J. Clegg. p. 317.
2. Cave, Edward (May 1853). "General Sir Robert Barton, K.C.H." The Gentleman's Magazine. 39: 544.
3. Chill, Adam (2009). Boundaries of Britishness: Boxing, Minorities, and Identity in Late-Georgian... p. 190. ISBN 978-0549471929.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Barton, Robert". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.