Lt.-Gen. Sir William Cornwallis Eustace, CB KCH

Lt General Sir William Cornwallis Eustace (1783-1855) K.C.H. (Knight Commander of the Hanoverian Order) C.B., of Sandford Hall, Essex, was the son of Lieutenant General Charles Eustace (1737-1800) of Robertstown and Corbally, County Kildare by his wife Alicia McCausland. He entered the British army and first saw service, as we have already noted, during the troubles of 1798 when only 15-years-old. He afterwards served in Italy and throughout the Peninsular War as Colonel of the Chasseurs Britanniques taking part in more than twenty battles. He was later transferred to the Grenadier Guards. He was appointed a CB and in 1832 a K.C.H. From 1843 until his death in 1855 he was Colonel Commandant of the 60th Rifles.

William Cornwallis Eustace was first appointed to the Chasseurs Britanniques Regiment in 1783 and served in Ireland through the Rebellion of 1798, being present at Ross, Vinegar Hill and Wexford. He gained promotion, by purchase via a number of regiments and sailed to the Mediterranean with Sir James Craig. He was later present at the battles of Maida and Scylla. A major, 96th boot, he purchased the lieutenant-colonelcy in the Chasseurs Britanniques, 23 August 1810 and took command from April 1811.

William Cornwallis Eustace was wounded on the Heights of Villares in 1812, but only left on leave that winter. He was absent most of 1813 due to injuries but re-joined the unit just before the action above Lesaca in August. Here he was severely wounded, for which he later was awarded a pension of £300 and returned to England on leave. On reduction he went on to half pay, but exchanged, with Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Davies in 1818, to the Grenadier Guards. He became a colonel commandant of the 60th Foot in 1843 and a general on 20 June 1854; he died the following year. He is described as being awarded the Gold Medal for Fuentes de Onoro and Salamanca and the Silver Medal for Madrid and Pyrenees.

He married three times: first, in 1809, to Catherine Frances (d. 1816), daughter of Richard Wogan, 2nd Baron Talbot of Malahide; secondly, Caroline Margaret, daughter of John King, Under-Secretary of State; and third, Emma, daughter and co-heiress of Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey, G.C.B., of Chigwell, Essex. By his first wife he had a son, Alexander Talbot Eustace and two daughters, Frances Catherine Elizabeth who married (1) in 1841 to Robert King and (2) to Reverend Samuel Lloyd; and Alicia Margaret, who died unmarried in 1840; by his second wife, three sons, William, who died young, John Thomas (1825-1919) and Robert Henry (married 1859) and by his third wife a daughter, Emma Louise who married Miles Lonsdale Formby in 1854.

Alexander Talbot, the eldest son, adopted the surname EUSTACE MALPAS. He married in 1845 Georgiana Charlotte, daughter of John Drummond, and died in 1870 having had two sons of whom the younger, Alexander Rowland, b. 1859, died in 1900 without issue. The elder, Major-General Sir Francis John William, K.C.B. of Rochestown, Co. Dublin, and later of Robertstown was born in 1849 and served in the Royal Artillery, finally being appointed a Colonal Commandant of the Regiment. He married in 1882 Marina Annie, daughter of General Sir Donald Stewart, Bart., G.C.B., and died in 1925, leaving a son Frank Rowland, b. 1891 who lived in Rochestown, Co. Dublin, and headed the family. He married three times but had no son.

• Burke, Bernard, Sir. A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland 6th ed. London : Harrison 1879. Vol I. page 521

  ---

• Reference: Filae Family Trees - SmartCopy: May 20 2022, 22:14:17 UTC