Lowry Cole

Infobox Military Person
name=Galbraith Lowry Cole
lived= 1 May 1772 – 4 October 1842
placeofbirth=Dublin
placeofdeath= Highfield Park, Hampshire, England


caption=Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole 1834 by William Dyce
nickname=
allegiance= flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom
serviceyears= 1787–1833
rank= General
branch= British Army
commands=4th Division
unit=27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot
battles= Peninsular War
awards= Knight Grand Cross, Order of the Bath
laterwork= Governor of Mauritius 1823-1828
Governor of the Cape Colony 1828-1833Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole 1 May 1772 Dublin - 4 October 1842 Highfield Park, Hampshire, was an Irish British Army general.

Cole was commissioned a cornet in 1787, and served in the West Indies, Ireland, and Egypt. He served as brigadier general in Sicily and commanded the 1st Brigade at the Battle of Maida on the 4th July 1806. In 1808 he was promoted to major-general, to lieutenant-general in 1813 and full general in 1830.

He was colonel of the 27th Foot, commanded the 4th Division in the Peninsular War under Wellington, and was wounded at the Battle of Albuera in which he played a decisive part.

For having served with distinction in the battles of Maida, Albuhera, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Orthez and Toulouse, he received the Cross with four clasps.

He was Member of Parliament for the family seat of Enniskillen from 1797 to 1800, represented Fermanagh in the British House of Commons in 1803, and was appointed Governor of Mauritius in 1823. He left in 1828 to take up the post of Governor of the Cape Colony which position he filled until 1833. Cole was invested as a Knight Grand Cross, Order of the Bath on 2 January 1815.

He is commemorated in Enniskillen by a statue surmounting a 30 metre column in Fort Hill Park, carried out by the Irish sculptor, Terence Farrell.

Family

Cole was born the second son of an Irish peer, William Willoughby Cole, 1st Earl of Enniskillen (1 March 1736–22 May 1803), and Anne Lowry-Corry (d. September 1802), the daughter of Galbraith Lowry-Corry of Tyrone, and the sister of Armar Lowry-Corry, 1st Earl Belmore.

Cole was married on 15 June 1815 to Frances Harris (d. 1 November 1847), daughter of James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury, for whom Malmesbury, Western Cape is named, and Harriet Mary, his wife. Frances Cole played a prominent part in social philanthropy in the Cape and worked towards having Coloured children taught useful trades. Colesberg, a town in the Cape, is named after him, as is Sir Lowry's Pass near Cape Town. They had two children; Florence Mary Georgiana Cole, and Colonel Arthur Lowry Cole (24 August 1817–30 March 1885)

His elder brother John Willoughby Cole (23 March 1768–31 March 1840) married Charlotte Paget (d. 26 January 1817), the daughter of Henry Bayly Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge.

His sisters were:
* Sarah Cole (d. 14 March 1833), married (1790) Owen Wynne
* Elizabeth Anne Cole (d. 1807), married (1788) Colonel Richard Magennis (d. 6 March 1831)
* Florence Cole (d. 1 March 1862), married (1797) Blaney Townley Balfour of Townley Hall (d. 22 December 1856)
* Henrietta Frances Cole (22 June 1784–2 July 1848), married (20 July 1805) Thomas Philip Robinson, 2nd Earl de Grey (8 December 1781–14 November 1859)

References

* [http://www.proni.gov.uk/records/private/ennisk.htm#lowry The Enniskillen Papers]
* [http://www.thepeerage.com/p24136.htm The Peerage]
* [http://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/colonels/066.html The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment]
* [http://www.stirnet.com/HTML/genie/british/cc4aq/cole01.htm Genealogy]

succession box
before=Richard Bourke, "acting"
title=Governor of the Cape Colony | years=1828–1833
after=Benjamin d'Urban