- John Elley
Lieutenant-General Sir John Elley MP KCB KCH KMT and KSG, Governor of Galway and Colonel of the17th Lancers (died 23rd January, 1839) was a Britishcavalry officer who fought with distinction in theNapoleonic Wars .Harry Smith remembered Sir John as his
mentor in this extract from hisautobiography :"The celebrated Cavalry officer, Sir John Elley, a very tall, bony, and manly figure of a man, with grim~visaged war depicted in his countenance, with whiskers,
moustaches , etc. like a French Pioneer, came over toDover during the time of our occupation ofFrance . He was walking on the path, with his celebrated sword belted under hissurtout . As the hooking up of the sword gave the coat-flap the appearance of having something large concealed under it, a lower order of Custom officer ran after him, rudely calling, "I say, you officer, you! stop, stop, I say! What's that under your coat?" Sir John turned round, and drawing his weapon of defence in many a bloody fight, to the astonishment of theJohn Bull s, roared out through his moustache in a voice of thunder, "That which I will run through your d--d guts, if you are impertinent to me!" - [http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~awoodley/harry/harry28.html]Biographical information about Sir John is scarce, perhaps partly because of his humble origins. John Elley was born in
London , circa 1770. His father ran an eating-house atFurnival's Inn . Apprenticed to Mr. John Gelderd, atannery owner of the village ofMeanwood nearLeeds ,Yorkshire , he became engaged to his masters daughter Anne. After her untimely death, he enlisted, in 1789, as a trooper in the Oxford Blues (Royal Horse Guards ) seeing service inFlanders (1793-95)India (1790s), thePeninsula War and theBattle of Waterloo . He obtained aLieutenancy in 1796, aTroop in 1799, was promoted toMajor in 1804,Lieutenant Colonel in 1808 andColonel in 1813. He became aMajor General in 1819 and aLieutenant General in 1832.One famous act of heroism occurred at the
Battle of Talavera (1809), as he lead the charge riding a white horse across unknown terrain. A chasm suddenly appeared before him and he was forced to jump it at full gallop. As he wrote in a letter to his sister Mrs Ellis, dated 30th July, 1809:"More fire I was never in, nor more perils did I escape. I led on one
Squadron to the Charge as aforlorn hope and out of 80 men I had not a dozen left – a very severe List of Killed and Wounded you will see by the Gazette – It will be great Satisfaction to my good old Father to Know that I had during the action a very conspicuous share, and in which I had the good Fortune to Succeed to the intense Satisfaction of the General Officers..." - [http://berryhillsturgeon.com/BSL/BritishMilitary/PeninsularWar/Talaveras1809/Talaveras1809.html]Battle of Waterloo
As a Colonel in the Blues Sir John was appointed Deputy
Adjutant-General of Cavalry at Waterloo. He was severely wounded in the battle. Sir Walter Scott, in "Paul's Letters to his Kinsfolk", described his feats at the attack of Mont St. Jean, a ridge to the south of the village of Waterloo:"Sir John Elley, who led the charge of the heavy brigade, was himself distinguished for personal prowess. He was at one time surrounded by several of the
cuirassiers ; but, being a tall and uncommonly powerful man, completely master of his sword and horse, he cut his way out, leaving several of his assailants on the ground, marked with wounds, indicating the unusual strength of the arm which inflicted them. Indeed, had not the ghastly evidence remained on the field, many of the blows dealt upon this occasion would have seemed borrowed from the annals of knight-errantry, for several of the corpses exhibited heads cloven to the chine, or severed from the shoulders."Post-War Career
Sent to
Ireland following the war, Sir John held various positions, including Commander ofConnaught , and finallyGovernor ofGalway (1827) - this position was not filled after his death. He was presented with theOrder of the Bath byKing George IV atDublin Castle in August, 1822.He was made Colonel of the
17th Lancers (Woolwich Depot) on 23rd November, 1829, replacingLord Somerset .He was elected
Member of Parliament for Windsor inRobert Peel 'sTory government. In 1836 the Eton & Windsor Gazette complained of the undue influence of the Castle on elections for that seat:"It is well known in this Borough there are a number of Electors who hold situations in the Royal Establishment, but who reside in the town. At the election of Members of Parliament those men - footmen, pages, and other - have been generally rendered subservient to Tory purposes. They are men who are permitted to have no opinion of their own, but are commanded by some one or other of their superiors in the Establishment of Their Majesties, to vote in a certain way. This it was that occasioned the return of Sir John Elley at the last election, who is frequently a guest at the Castle, and who of course obtains the influence of the many Tory hangers-on of the Court."
Death and Legacy
Sir John Elley died at his country seat
Cholderton Lodge,Wiltshire in 1839 and was buried atSt. George's Chapel , Windsor Castle. His tomb includes a bust in black and whitemarble . His portrait, held by theNational Portrait Gallery (United Kingdom) , was painted about 1837 as a study for the famous William Salter painting 'Waterloo Banquet At Apsley House, 1836', which depicts a commemorative banquet held by the Duke of Wellington at his London home on the anniversary of the battle.Though unmarried, Sir John was believed to have fathered at least one
illegitimate son, who, legend has it, emigrated toVan Diemen's Land (Tasmania ).In his will, dated 6th April,1838, Sir John left nothing to any member of his family. However, an Isabella Elizabeth Elley, daughter of the Reverend William Gifford Cookesley, of Eton College, was to receive a legacy of £300. The main beneficiary of the will was Sir John's housekeeper, Jane Carter. She was to receive a sizable portion of the contents of his home, a legacy of £2,000 and £300 a year for life. Jane's sister, Mary, was left a sum of £200 and £50 per year and her brother Edward £100 and £25 per year. The Officers Mess of the Horse Guards was to receive a legacy of £300 for the purchase of plate. Various charities also benefited from the will, as follows :-
to the
Magdalen Asylum on theBlackfriars Road £300; to the Blind Asylum, London Road £300; to the Deaf and Dumb Asylum,Old Kent Road £300; to the Orphan Asylum,Clapton £300; to the Female Orphan Asylum,Westminster £300; to Saint Georges Hospital, Grosvenor Place £300; to theWestminster Lying-in Hospital £300; to the Bethlem Diameter Hospital,Lambeth £500; to the Society for the Refuge ofDestitute Women, Sackville Road £200; to the Institute for the cure ofCancer s in the Kent Road £250; to the Rector and Corporation of New Windsor £1,000, to be given as loans to necessitous shopkeepers and tradespeople. A further £2,000 was to be used for the support of six poor persons of 54 or more years of age.External links
* [http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp01464 Portrait (National Gallery)]
* [http://www.historikorders.com/officercavalry.htm Medals]
* [http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~awoodley/harry/harry28.html Description in Harry Smith's autobiography]
* [http://www.sustainable-cholderton.co.uk The Cholderton Estate, including the Lodge]
* [http://www.historikorders.com/campbellgroup.htm Jpeg of The Waterloo Banquet by William Salter]
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