Richard Vyse

General Richard Vyse or Vise FRSE (11 July 1746 – 30 May 1825) was a British general, and briefly a Member of Parliament for Beverley.[1]

General Richard Vyse
Memorial to Richard Vyse in Lichfield Cathedral
Born	11 July 1746 Lichfield, Staffordshire
Died	30 May 1825 (aged 78) Lichfield, Staffordshire
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Battle of Le Cateau
Relations	father: William Vyse son: Major-General Richard William Howard Vyse

Life

The family's earlier history in Staffordshire is outlined by the editor of Erdeswicke.[2] Vyse was born at Lichfield, Staffordshire the younger son of William Vyse (1710–1770), canon residentiary and treasurer of Lichfield[3] and his wife Catherine Smalbroke, and younger brother of William Vyse (1741–1816), canon residentiary and chancellor of Lichfield. He married twice: first, in 1771, he married Anna Susannah Spearman, who died without issue a year later and was buried at St Chad's, Stowe. In 1780, he married Anne,[4] the only surviving daughter and heiress of Field-marshal Sir George Howard and his wife Lucy Wentworth, daughter of Thomas, Earl of Strafford, and became the father of Major-General Howard Vyse, anthropologist and Egyptologist, and his sister Georgiana Anne Vyse.[5]

Vyse was appointed cornet in the 5th Dragoons on 13 February 1763. He attained the brevet rank of colonel on 7 January 1781, received the command of the 1st Dragoon Guards on 28 May 1784, and during the revolutionary war served in Flanders in command of a brigade under the Duke of York. He distinguished himself on several occasions, particularly at the Battle of Beaumont on 26 April 1794, where at the head of two brigades of heavy cavalry, he materially contributed to the victory, and at the evacuation of Ostend, which he superintended on 1 July.

Vyse was nominated major-general on 2 October 1794, and lieutenant-general on 1 January 1801. In 1799 he was appointed Commander of Forces in Scotland and based at Edinburgh Castle. During his time in Edinburgh, in 1804, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Ninian Imrie, John Clerk, and Thomas Charles Hope. In 1805 he left Scotland to become Commanding Officer of the Yorkshire district.[6]

He was returned to parliament in 1806 for Beverley, but in the following year made way for his son, Howard Vyse. He attained the rank of general on 1 January 1812, and died at Lichfield on 30 May 1825. He filled for some time the office of comptroller to Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland.[7][8] He was buried in Lichfield Cathedral near his parents: in 1827 his sister Mary (1745-1827), who had become the second wife of Spencer Madan, Lord Bishop of Peterborough, was buried beside him in the same vault.[9] Their sister Catherine in 1768 became the second wife of Sir George Smith, 1st Bart., was widowed in the following year, and died in 1786.[10]

Family

He married Anne Howard, daughter of Field Marshall George Howard.

Notes

1. D.R. Fisher, 'Vyse, Richard (1746-1825)', in R. Thorne (ed.), The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1790-1820 (from Boydell and Brewer 1986), History of Parliament Online.
2. S. Erdeswicke (ed. T. Harwood), A Survey of Staffordshire: Containing the Antiquities of that County New, improved edition (J.B. Nichols and Son, London 1844), pp. 120-21 (Google).
4. Copy (on paper) of articles previous to the marriage of Richard Vyse and Miss Anne Howard [no ref.] 10 May 1780 at Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies
5. W. Newling and J.C. Woodhouse, A Short Account of Lichfield Cathedral, Fourth Edition, with additions and an engraving (T.G. Lomax, Lichfield 1834), p. 83 (Google).
6. Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X.
7. 'General Richard Vyse', Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. 95 Part 2 (1825), p. 180 (Google)
8. 'Succession of Colonels: Richard Vyse', in Historical Records of the Third, or Prince of Wales's Regiment of Dragoon Guards (By Command, London 1838), pp. 127-28 (Internet Archive).
9. W. Newling and J.C. Woodhouse, A Short Account of Lichfield Cathedral, Fourth Edition, with additions and an engraving (T.G. Lomax, Lichfield 1834), pp. 81-83 (Google).
10. B. Redford (ed.), The Letters of Samuel Johnson, Vol II: 1773-1776 (Princeton University Press, Princeton New Jersey 1992), p. 222 note 3 (Google), citing A.L. Reade, Johnsonian Gleanings, Vol. 5: The Doctor's Life, 1728-1735 (London 1928), p. 211; Vol. 11: Consolidated Index of Persons (London 1952), p. 436.

References

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Richard Vyse

Archival documents

• Smalbroke family of Birmingham MS 1098 includes Vyse family at Birmingham City Archives.* Vyse, Richard (1746-1825) MP General 131255 at National Register of Archives.

Attribution

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