Col. Samuel Bagshawe, MP

• Burke, Bernard, Sir. A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland 6th ed. London : Harrison 1879. Vol I. page 62

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Colonel Samuel Bagshawe of Ford Hall, Chinley, Cheshire. Born May 1713. Died 16.08.1762. Married Catherine Caldwell died 19.07.1801. 93rd Regiment of Foot.

M.P. for Waterford, Ireland..

This famous Colonel, whose mother was Frances Hardwar, and whose wife was Catherine Caldwell (both ladies having a Royal descent), is quite a little romance. His birth was subsequent to his father's death, and at the age of six he was an orphan, living at Ford with his uncle, whose heir he was. As a youth he enlisted in General Anstruther's regiment of foot as a private, and after six years of servitude, in which he rose to the rank of quartermaster-sergeant, it took very considerable influence to obtain his discharge. This was in 1738. Two years later the third Duke of Devonshire gave him an ensign's commission without purchase. His career is of great interest, from the siege of L'Orient, where he lost a leg, till he became second in command in India, where he lost an eye. He was in the East when Lawrence and Clive were laying the foundation of our Indian Empire, and but from ill-health he would no doubt have shared in the famous victory of Plassy. His wife was the sister of Sir James Caldwell, Bart., of Castle Caldwell, County Fermanagh, whom the Empress Maria Theresa created a Count of Milan for his military and diplomatic services; and gave him a ring from her finger; an addition of arms (the Imperial eagle), and other Royal favours. The Caldwells signally distinguished themselves in the Stura campaign, in the defence of Quebec, and in the capture of Seringapatam.

From a work written by Mr. W. H. G. Bagshawe, J.P., for private circulation (The Bagshawes, of Ford), we gather many interesting facts of the Colonel. His letter, written to William Bagshawe, of the Inner Temple, which relates to the loss of his limb, is so much history.

"Dear Coz.-

"When I last wrote to you I thought we were sailing directly for America, but as we passed Plymouth a boat put out with an express for the Admiral, so the fleet turned into that port, and while we were obliged to be there, the wind being against us, the order came for a descent on the coast of France, where we failed in our design on Port L'Orient, but the knowledge the fleet has gained, two forts demolished, with their garrisons taken prisoners, a fishery destroyed, together with one of the best men of war the French possessed, I really think are a very sufficient equivalent for the expense of going thither. I have been till now so weak that it was a pain to me to write, so that the public has acquainted you with my misfortune before I was fit to do so, though I wrote to Uncle the day after I was brought ashore, but I did not recover that fatigue for two days. I thank God I have reason to hope that I am now past danger from the loss of my limb, yet I can scarcely do anything without help, notwithstanding this is the forty-seventh day since I sustained my injury. Indeed, I have suffered more than the ordinary misery of such a loss, for I was obliged to be carried the day after the amputation eleven miles, lying upon a bolster between two poles, and eight of these miles in the night through woods that caught hold of me from time to time, and over the worst road I think that could be travelled; after this, several days upon a rolling sea; more agonising than the former. My life is next to a miracle, nay, I may say a miracle, for when I received the shot which took away my leg I was talking to a strange gentleman, who came up to me as I was waiting to see a detachment of men enter our battery in order that I might make a report to the General. There was no person near me but him, and no likelihood of anyone coming that way, as it was much exposed to the cannon of the town. This gentleman proved to be a surgeon, and if all the world had been surgeons and he not one I must infallibly have bled to death, for no other individual, even if it had been possible for them to have seen the accident, could have arrived in time enough to give me assistance. Twice since have I been in danger of bleeding to death, and twice when all our physicians and surgeons said it was ten to one against me. I lay, on one occasion, six hours with all my limbs as cold as clay and a dead sweat upon them, and I gasping at one time and at another hardly able to breathe fast enough. However, I can now sit up six or eight hours in the twenty-four, and eat my breakfast and dinner very heartily. My wound also grows more easy, and in a fortnight, I believe, will have a skin over all the fleshy part of it".

The first tract of our vast Indian Empire was gained by the pluck of the regiment of which Bagshawe was the Colonel. True, he was not with them when they took Calcutta and stormed the Hooghly; nor, when they attacked the vast hosts under Surajah Dowlah; nor when they beat the French out of their headquarters at Chandernagore; nor when they gained the proud motto which they still retain; but he had trained them, he had brought them to that efficiency which was demonstrated by results almost incredible, and which to this hour seem to partake of the marvellous.

There are many interesting facts of the Bagshawes of Ford, which can be obtained from the Pedigree, and, as we have been granted permission by the learned writer to make an extract, if necessary, we will avail ourselves of his courtesy.

"Ford Hall at this time (1758) required some substantial repairs, which were commenced during his (Colonel Bagshawes) absence in London by 'taking off the battlements' of the house and lowering them 'into the court', as Mr. Evatt duly informed him. Preparations for planting were also begun with much vigour. Captain Morgan kindly promised all the acorns that could be gathered at Stanton Woodhouse, and large orders for young trees were despatched in various directions. The process of holing the ground was, however, considerably retarded by the remains of 'a set causeway', which gave the gardeners great trouble, and is conjectured to have been the pavement of a Roman road". "On the 10th November" (1758) "Colonel Bagshawe tells Mr. Wright, of Longstone:- The insolence of the poachers in this parish has arrived at an uncommon pitch. They keep dogs in defiance of the law, and being old in the trade, it is grown difficult to detect them, but as I have shewn some inclination to put a stop to their practices, they have, I apprehend, determined to be revenged on me:- About the 27th October, in the night time, I had a hog sheep worried by their dogs; on the 8th inst., in the night time, I had a ewe sheep worried; on the same occasion they threw down in one place, a rood of walling, and which I suppose was also done about the 8th. I beg you will afford me what assistance you can to discover these villains, who by security will be encouraged to proceed to greater villanies".