Edward Nugent , Col.

25 Walton Street
Aylesbury
Buckinghampshire
England From 'The Chaplin and Skinner Families' pages 38 to 49 (part) :

>> Colonel Edward Nugent, the son of Captain Walter Nugent and his wife Rebecca (née Woodward), was born on the 24th July, 1'755, his parents having been married on 25th September, 1754

When thirteen years of age he entered His Majesty's Service as a midshipman on board H.M.S. Hawk, sloop of war, but soon after left the Navy and entered the service of the East India Company as an ensign.

I have in my possession most of his commissions, granted both in the service of the East India Company and in the King's service; and though Colonel Nugent has been invariably known in the family by that title, I believe that the highest regular rank to which he attained was-
(a) Captain in the service of the H.E.I.C., by commission issued at Bombay Castle on 26th December, 1781, and confirmed in London on I7th May, I785.
(b) Captain in the King's service, but only temporary rank, so long as he was employed to raise men for general service, by commission dated 16th July, 1800, signed by the Duke of Portland, and countersigned by George III.

For many years he commanded the Bucks Militia, and only resigned in consequence of failing health in 1813; and it was no doubt due to this command, and possibly also to a brevet rank in the Custom House Infantry - a Dublin volunteer corps which be assisted in raising - that he was known as Colonel Nugent. In these pages he is invariably referred to as Colonel Nugent.

His career in India was a distinguished one, and can be most conveniently summarised by setting out the following memorial, which in February, I822, he addressed to the Directors of the East India Company.

To the Honourable the Court of Directors of the Honourable United East India Company

"Honourable Sirs,
"Emboldened by the late Decision of your Honourable Court, and the honourable the Court of Proprietors to grant Mr. ]ohn Hinde Pelly the Sum of £2,000, being a loss sustained by him in the performance of a contract entered into with the Bombay Government, and occasioned by the breaking out of the Marattah War, I presume once more to address you.
"Permit me. Honourable Sirs, most respectfully to observe, that in the course of human events, a case more similar to my own could not possibly have existed.
"In the latter end of the year 1789. I was recommended by the late Marquess of Buckingham, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, to Mr. Devaynes, then Chairman, and to your Honourable Court, to raise men for the East India Company, in Ireland, under the protection of the Lord Lieutenant. and with the countenance and support of the Civil Magistracy.
"Authorised by the Court of Directors, and under such auspices, I recruited with very reasonable success for the Honourable Company. although unattended by any personal advantage, until the war broke out between this Country and France, when the excessive bounties given by His Majesty, and premiums by individuals raising men for Rank, rendered it impossible for me to obtain a suffcient number of men to cover the heavy expences I incurred, no alteration having taken place in the stipulated price, by the payment of my establishments in different posts of Ireland, the result of which was a loss to myself, having agreed to pay all previous expences, of not less than £3,000 over and above every sum, or sums, received from the Honourable Company on account of their Recruiting Service. An affidavit of mine to this effect is now on the Records of the Commerce of Shipping.
"After various representations of the hardships of my case, and stating to your Honourable Court the eminent services of my Wife's Father, the late Governor Spencer, who, when Chief of the Factory at Surat, in the year 1759, procured a Phirmaun from the Mogul to enable the East India Company to take possession of Surat Castle and its dependencies; afterwards, as a member of Council at Bengal, assisting to lay the foundation of their present Empire in India, serving them as Provisional Governor at Bengal, and subsequently appointed Governor of Bombay: for all which circumstanceo I beg leave most humbly to refer to your Records, your Honourable Court were pleased to grant to me and to my Wife a Pension of £100 per annum, with benefit of survivorship.
"While I feel, and shall always feel gateful for this mark of your benevolence, I have great reason to believe that had you not been restricted by existing laws, and want of precedent, you would have taken a much more extended view of my own services during seventeen years in India, of the heavy loss I have sustained by the recruiting, and of the long, faithful and meritorious services of my Wife's Father. I trust the late Resolution of the Honourable the Court of Proprietors will have removed this difficulty
"There is also a point of view in which I hope you will consider this question. and which it has been my misfortune to have omitted placing before you.
"The men I raised, of whom 2,000 were approved and sailed for India, arrived there at a period most critical to the interests of this Country, and of the Honourable Company - during the war against Tippoo Sultaun, conducted in person by the late Marquess Cornwallis, under whom many hundreds of them actually served before Seringapatam; and those acquainted with Indian Warfare can well appreciate the value of such an accession of European Force at such an important crisis.
"Allow me. Honourable Sirs, to hope that this circumstance will not escape your observation. and that you will no longer think it just or fitting, that an humble individual, who has served you faithfully, and not without distinction, for seventeen years in India, and whose ill health, occasioned by his severe service and privations at Mangalore, obliged him to retire before those Regulations were established for the provision and support of Officers so circumstanced, should now have to struggle with dilficulties occasioned by this very heavy loss at £3,000 which to the Honourable Company would not be more than thirty shillings per man, on the 2,000 men raised, over and above the sum of twelve guineas for each originally stipulated. and which sum of twelve guineas was not more than the half of what was subsequently paid, when the recruiting fell into other hands.
"Being now, Honourable Sirs, in my 67th year, the oldest surviving Ofhcer of the Bombay Establishment, except I.ieutenant General Puhé and Major General Torriano, I beg leave, in as concise a manner as possible, to lay before you an account of the different Services in which I was employed during my residence in India.
"Ist. In September, 1770, I Served as a Cadet on an Expedition, commanded by my Uncle, Captain Edward Nugent, then senior Captain on the Bombay Establishment, against the Coolies, or Pirates in the Guezarat, and in March, 1771, was appointed an Ensign on the Bombay Establishment.
"2nd In December, 1774, being with the Army at the siege of Tannah, and commanding the Battery Guard, I seized an opportunity, at two o'clock in the afternoon, when the Natives of India are usually inactive. to proceed under shelter of the Bank of the River. and at great personal risque, ascertained that the breach was practicable; and on reporting the same to Brigadier General Gordon, I was, though then an Ensign, appointed to act as a Lieutenant with the 2nd European Grenadier Company, and assisted on the following day with that Company to storm the place at precisely the same hour.
"3rd. In April, 1775, commanding a detachment of Europeans on board the Revenge in an action with the Marattah Fleet, in which their principal vessel, a frigate of 40 guns, was burnt, Commodore Moore was pleased to recommend me to the Governor, Mr. Hornby, who in consequence did in Council grant me a Brevet as Lieutenant. (there being then no vacancy) and which was an instance of promotion in the Subaltern Line then unknown on the Bombay Establishment.
"4th. On the increase of the Establishment of Native Troops, in the same year, I was sent to the Malabar Coast to raise Recruits, and did, in the neighbourhood of Tillecherry, raise a considerable number of men for the Service.
"5th. In October. 1778, I accompanied the Troops as a Lieutenant of Grenadiers on the Service to Poonah, and on the retreat from Tullagaum, when the European Regiment was unfortunately thrown into confusion, I was posted by Major Frederick on one flank of the Regiment, while he remained on the other; which gave me an opportunity of assisting materially to restore good order; and, during the retreat, and for the remainder of the service, I performed the duty of Adjutant to the Regiment.
"6th. In November, '1779, I was appointed Secretary to Colonel Hartley, commanding a detachment sent to join General Goddard's Army. During the whole of that Campaign in every Action that occurred, and more particularly at the Storm of Ahmedabad, led by Colonel Hartley, I acted as his Aide de Camp as well as his Secretary.
"7th Colonel Hanley having afterwards the command of a separate Army in the Concan. I served under him for two Campaigns and during several severe Actions, as his Secretary and Aide de Camp,
"8th. In the year 1781, General Goddard having been appointed Commander in Chief at Bombay, did me the honour, from I presume his knowledge of my military character, to nominate me as one of his Staff for that Establishment, in which station I served under him until his departure for Europe in October, 1782.
"9th. In 1781, I was appointed a Captain by Brevet, and at the same time to the Command of
the 1st, or senior Battalion of Native Troops on the Bombay Establishment, a situation of equal trust and confidence with the Command of a Regiment at the present time, which Command I held for six years.
"10th. In the year 1803, I was, at the particular request of Brigadier General Macloud, ordered with my Battalion to the Southward. and in the month of May landed at Mangalore, during the defence of which place I was the senior Officer of the Honounable Company's Infantry, having under my command the Grenadier Battalion, and the 1st, my own Battalion, the 8th Battalion, and three Companies of the Marine Battalion of Sepoys, with about 100 Europeans, composed of the recovered Men, left sick by General Matthews, and Recruits Landed from the Fairford Indiaman, altogether about 2,300 Men.

"Of that Defence it does not become me to speak; the Histories of India since published, and particularly Colonel Wilks's History of Mysore, have done ample justice to it; but I may be allowed to say, that I enjoyed the entire confidence of the gallant Officer, Colonel Campbell, who commanded, whose life fall a sacrifice to his exertions, and from my knowledge of the French language, conducted, under his directions, the various negotiations which took place between him and the French Envoy to Tippoo Sultaun, Monsieur Piveron de Morlat.
"I beg leave to assure your Honourable Court, that a more painful Service never fell to my lot, than to be obliged to enter into these details; but I trust the accompanying very flattering Testimonials from your principal Civil and Military Servants of the Bombay Establishment now in England, will justify me in bringing them before you, and that, although the period of my Service wanted five years of that now established for a retirement on full pay; yet that, coupled with the consideration of my heavy loss from the recruiting, you will deem me entitled to such further marks of the Honourable Company's bounty as to your wisdom may seem meet.
"I have the honour to be, with the highest respect and consideration,
Honourable Sirs,
Your most obedient servant,
"EDWARD NUGENT,
Formerly and for six years Captain Commandant of the 1st Battalion of Sepoys, Bombay Esatblishment. London, Beaumont Street, 27th February 1822

"No 1
Certificate of Captain Nugent's Services in India, from the Honourable Company's Civil Servants.

"We, the undersigned, being the senior Servants formerly of the Bombay Establishment, now residing in England, do hereby certify, that Captain Nugent served, to our knowledge, for seventeen years on tbat Establishment, during six of which in command of a Battalion of Sepoys, and previously as Secretary to two Officers of distinguished merit, the late Generals Goddard and Hartley.
"That Captain Nugent's own Character in the Service was highly distinguished, nor do we believe that during the time he served, there was any Expedition or Service fitted out from Bombay, in which he wa.not employed; and we understood he was obliged to leave India in consequence of bad health, originating in his exertions at the memorable defence of Mangalore.
"Captain Nugent, we have learnt since his return to Europe, was employed to raise men in Ireland, by which we have reason to believe, many of us having assisted him in his difficulties, that he suffered a very heavy pecuniary loss, and as he is now about to petition the Honourable Court of Directors to conrider his case, we beg leave most strongly to recommend him, as being a person well
worthy of their humane consideration.

"P. CRAWPORD BRUCE·
]. SIBBALD.
T. HUNTER
THOMAS WILKINSON
WILLIAM PAGE (late Member of the Council),
JAMES FORBES
SAMUEL MARTIN.
THOMAS LECHMERE (late Member of Council).
EDWARD RUSSEL HOWE.
JOHN MORRIS (late Secretary to Government)
GEORGE SIMPSON, M.P.
H. FAWCETT, M.P.

"(A true Copy) " London, January 1, 1813.
"EDWARD NUGENT"


"No 2.

Certificate of Captain Nugent's Services in India, from the Senior Military Servants now in England
"We the undersigned, being the Senior Officers of the Bombay Establishment, now residing in England, do hereby certify, that Captain Edward Nugent served the Honourable Company for seventeen years on that Establisbment; during which period he was in two Campaigns in the Guzerat,and in the Concan Secretary to the late Major-General James Hartley, then commanding a detachment of the Bombay Army, serving with the Bengal Army, under General Goddard; and that when General Goddard took the command of the Bombay Forces, as Commander-in-chief, he appointed Captain Nugent to be his Military Secretary, in which situation he continued until the General quitted India for Europe
"That in December, 1781, Captain Nugent was appointed to the command of the First Battalion of Sepoys, which command he held until his leaving Bombay in April, 1786, by permission of the Bombay Government, in consequence of bad health, originating in his exertions at the memorable defence of Mangalore, where he was the senior Offcer of Infantry employed.
"That Captain Nugent's character as an Officer in the Service was highly distinguished, and in private life most gentlemanly; and understanding that he means to present an application to the Honourable the Court of Directors for remuneration, for losses sustained by him in raising men for the Service, we unanimously join in this Certificate of his services, and most cordially wish him success in such application.

(Signed)

R. NICHOLSON, Major-General in the retired List, late Commander of the Forces, Bombay.
JAMES KERR, Major-General, Bombay Establishment
J. WISEMAN, Major-General.
HENRY OAKES, Major-General
T, MARSHALL, Major-General.
C. REYNOLDS, Major-General.
ANDREW ANDBRSON, Major-General
M. GRANT, Colonel.
HENRY WOODINGTON, Colonel.
WILLlAM MASON, Lieutenant-Colonel
JAMES DRUMMOND. Lieutenant-Colonel.
JOHN MORRIS, Lieutcnant-Colonel.
W. H. SANDIFORD, Major.

"(A true Copy.) "London, January 1 1813.
"EDWARD NUGENT

"Originals of these papers are now in India House"

In I786 the state of his health rendered it necessary that he should return to Europe, where he remained until the year 1802, when he returned to India.
During his service in India Colonel Nugent married Adriana Spencer, daughter of the late Mr. John Spencer, a former Governor of Bombay. Governor Spencer amassed a large fortune whilst in India, and when ill health compelled him to return to England, he invested very large sums - after the manner of those days - in the purchase of jewels and specie, this being the most convenient form of bringing back his wealth. Unfortunately he died on the voyage, then a matter of six or seven months, and the greater part of his effects disappeared, or, at all events, failed to reach his family. The story told in the family -though I have no means of saying how far it may be true - is that Governor Spencer, like many other nabobs of his time, had acquired such great wealth that he would have found it difficult to give an official explanation as to the manner in which it had been obtained. In order to avoid any unpleasant publicity he only insured his effects on the voyage for such an amount as he might reasonably have been supposed to bring home: there were certain boxes and cases invoiced as being of no particular value, although really containing the bulk of his fortune. He was accompanied by his daughter Adriana (afterwards Mrs. Nugent), then a child, and her nurse. On the voyage he died, and only the property covered by insurance was received by his family. Immediately they reached England the nurse married the captain of the ship, and it is reported that the captain very shortly afterwards bought a ship of his own. This fact, though no doubt capable of many explanations, added to the suspicions already entertained with regard to the nurse; but, so far as I can ascertain, nothing more was ever heard of the nurse or the captain - or the missing boxes.
Colonel Nugent appears to have spent the greater part of his time between the years 1786 and 1802 in Ireland, and it was then that his intimacy with his cousin, Sir James Nugent, sprang up, and it must have been at this time that he twice rescued Sir James from his financial troubles, and paid some £830 to take him out of the hands of the officers. It was doubtless to secure the repayment of this and other moneys that Sir James gave him a charge on the Donore Estates, which some forty years later was the subject of the litigation which will in due course be mentioned. Colonel Nugent was on his first arrival in Ireland actively employed in raising men for the service of the East India Company.
In 1787 the Marquis of Buckingham, who had married Earl Nugent's daughter (see pedigree D), was appointed Viceroy of Ireland, and Colonel Nugent seems to have been a good deal at his Court. On the 14th October, 1788, Robert, Earl Nugent, died at the house of Major O'Donnel in Dublin at the age of 79, and no doubt Colonel Nugent, who was on very friendly terms with the old Earl, saw a good deal of him, and profited by such an influential connection. I have not been able to find that Colonel Nugent received any benefit under Earl Nugent's will, though he had not long before received a legacy of £500 from Lord Lyttleton, who was connected with the Grenville family. The bulk of Earl Nugent's property, including his Irish Estates and Gosfield Hall, his place in Essex, which he had acquired from his second wife, Anne Craggs, widow of John Knight, M.P., was left to his son-in-law, the Marquis of Buckingham, subject to several charges and annuities.
Soon after his marriage with Earl Nugent's daughter (16 Apri1, 1775) the Marquis of Buckingham assumed the name of Nugent, and obtained the special privilege of signing the name "Nugent" before all other titles. On the 29th December, 1800, the Marchionessof Buckingham was created Baroness Nugent in her own right, with remainder to her second son; and on her death on 16th March, 1812, her second son, George Grenville, became Lord Nugent, and a few words as to his career may here be usefully inserted.
Born on 31st December, 1789, he married Anne Lucy Poulett on 6th September, 1813: he travelled abroad a great deal, and in the years 1832-1835 acted as High Commissioner for the Ionian Islands. He was four times member of Parliament for the Borough and Hundreds of Aylesbury, and at his election in October, 1812, he was proposed by Colonel Nugent, as is subsequently mentioned. The greater part of his life, when in England, was spent at Lillies, his seat at Hardwick, about three miles from Aylesbury. He died on 26th November, 1850, without issue, when the title became extinct. He was buried at Wotton, near Aylesbury.
When recently at Ayleshury (April, 1902) I ascertained that one George Turpin, Lord Nugent's valet, who had been with him in the Ionian Islands, and accompanied him in all his travels, had only died two months previously, in his 91st year. I was told by his great niece, who keeps the Plough Inn at Bierton, where he died, that until within a few months of his death he was in full possession of his faculties, and spoke frequently of his travels and of his old master, to whom he was devotedly attached. He was with him at his death, and his great niece still has Lord Nugent's hat and sword and coronation robe. A print of Lord Nugent and a portrait of Lady Nugent still hang in the parlour of the Plough Inn, opposite the seat where old Turpin spent the last years of his life, and up to the present Mrs. Miles has not been willing to part with them, though she has several times told me she will think it over. The village still tells of the familiar manner in which he talked with Italian organ grinders and French onion boys in their native languages. About the same time I was at Hardwick, the nearest village to Lillies, and made the acquaintance of an old gentleman who well remembered Lord Nugent, and how he used to ride about the country on a great black stallion with pistols in his holsters; a very tall man and handsome, and a great terror to all poachers and tramps.
Now - to return to Colonel Nugent during his residence in Ireland - after the death of Earl Nugent the Marquis of Buckingham appointed him.to two sinecure offices. On the 28th February, 1789, he was appointed Examinator of Hearth Money, his commission being signed by the Lord Lieutenant with his usual signature of "Nugent Buckingham"; on the I9th November, 1791, he received a commission as Landwaiter, an of~ce under the Irish Board of Revenues. It was about this time that the unsettled state of European politics gave rise to the first Volunteer movement in the United Kingdom, and on 31st October, 1795, Colonel Nugent was commissioned by the Lord Lieutenant, with the rank of captain, to raise a corps in Dublin, to be called the "Custom House Infantry." This he appears to have carried out with such success that in the years 1800 and 1801 he was commissioned to raise large numbers of men for the King's service, as is fully explained in the letters of 1st July, 1800, and 15th August, 1801, quoted below.
In the year 1802, at the special request of the East India Company, he returned to India for the last time, when he saw much service, and was in command at Mangalore during the famous defence in 1803. In 1804 he came back to England, greatly broken in health, and did not again return to the East.
After this time he was very seldom, if at all, in Ireland; his ties with that country having practically passed away. Earl Nugent had been dead for some years; the Marquis of Buckingham was no longer Viceroy but living in England, looking after his estates in Buckinghamshire and Essex; his old friend, Sir James Nugent of Donore, and also the latter's brother and successor, Sir Peter, had both died. On the other hand, Colonel Nugent's mother was living in England, his wife and only surviving child were also there, and it was in London above all places that he could meet his Anglo-Indian friends and acquaintances. It therefore seems only natural that he should have settled to remain in England; so far as I can ascertain, he divided his time between London and Aylesbury, the reason of his visiting and ultimately settling in the latter place being his friendship with the Buckingham family and his intimacy with Lord Nugent, who has been already referred to.
Very shortly after his return he was nominated as Sheriff of Bucks, and served that office from September, 1804, to 1805 It is a curious coincidence that one Acton Chaplin was then a leading resident at Aylesbury, and assisted Colonel Nugent during his year of office. They afterwards became close friends, and it was from this gentleman that the Rt. Hon. Acton S. Ayrton received his name - being his godson.
In October, 1810, he purchased a freehold house at Aylesbury (No. 25 Walton Street), which he occupied for many years. It was soon after this time that he seriously entertained the idea of entering Parliament and standing for Aylesbury. One reason which put an end to this intention was the fact that a pension which he still received from the Irish Board of Revenue precluded him from sitting in the House of Commons.
Although not himself a candidate for Parliament, he took a keen interest in political matters, and especially so far as they concerned Aylesbury. On the 9th October, 1812, Colonel Nugent proposed Lord Nugent, "his friend and relation," as member for the Borough and Hundreds of Aylesbury, in a speech of which I still have a print. His candidate was duly elected, and on the 13th of the same month it was Colonel Nugent who, at a dinner given by Earl Temple (the Marquis of Buckingham's eldest son), proposed the health of the Rev. Sir George Lee, Bart., after his election as member for the county of Bucks.
It is easy to understand that, with such influential friends in the neighbourhood, who received him as a relative, and, above all, when they and their friends were well represented in Parliament, Colonel Nugent was very comfortably established in Aylesbury.

[Note that an account is given in the book and in nugent.doc, but not here, of the French contacts in Aylesbury made by Col. Nugent]

Meanwhile for Colonel Nugent many things were changing, and he must have found himself rapidly joining an elder generation. On the 1st June, 1811, his daughter was married to Mr.Frederick Ayrton, and before the end of seven years from that time Colonel Nugent was blessed with five grandchildren - Frederick, Matilda, Edward, Acton, and John.
In March, 1812, the Marchioness of Buckingham died, and on the 1th February, 1813, was followed by her husband.
In the latter year Colonel Nugent resigned the command of the Bucks Militia.

On the 25th January, 1815, his son committed suicide under the distressing circumstances mentioned in Colonel Nugent's letter of the 15th February, I835 [See p. 54·] I have not included this son in pedigree D as I was informed more than once by Mrs. M. A. Chaplin that he was illegitimate. Had it not been for her assurance on this point I should have been inclined to think that this son was "James" referred to in Colonel Nugent's and Mrs. R. Nugent's letter of 10th October, 1798 [See p. 51]. In the early part of 1818 his mother, Rebecca Nugent, died - upwards of 80 years of age - and in her last letter written in this world expressed her thanks and gratitude for all he had done for her. She was then living at Knightsbridge in a pretty country house called "South Place"; the name still survives, but Mrs. Nugent's house has long since been pulled down.

In 1823 his son-in-law, Frederick Ayrton, died in India, leaving his widow and grandchildren very ill provided for, and after this time they practically lived with Colonel Nugent - first at 17 Beaumont Street and subsequently at 9 Welbeck Street.
In the latter years of his life Colonel Nugent seems to have been much in need of money. Probably the style which he had been obliged to maintain at Aylesbury helped to cripple his finances. We have already seen that in February, 1822, he petitioned the East India Company for £3,000 which he had spent during his recruiting services in 1789 and subsequent years. In 1833 he was in friendly correspondence with Sir Percy Nugent of Donore as to certain litigation then pending between them, and arising from a judgment held by Colonel Nugent on one of the late Sir James Nugent's estates. Colonel Nugent suggested that they should amicably settle the matter themselves, without the intervention of law or lawyers, and assured Sir Percy that if he would take the case into his serious consideration, and agree to some arrangement to make the short remainder of his life (he was then 78) comfortable, he might be induced to forego some part of his claim upon the estates. Again, on the 1st October, 1835 [see letter of that date], Colonel Nugent writes to his grandson, Acton S. Ayrton, then travelling in Ireland, complaining of the non-payment of certain rents from Sir Percy's estates.
I am inclined to think that some settlement of these matters was arrived at either shortly before or shortly after Colonel Nugent's death, and chiefly through the intervention of Acton S. Ayrton. <<

[See 'The Chaplin and Skinner Families' for more material concerning Col. Nugent, see nugent.doc]


Lady Nugent's Journal, Black, London

28 September 1805: Take leave of Madame Du Pont soon after 8, and proceed as fast as possible to Lillies, where we arrived before 4, having given the little ones their dinners on the road. Dinner at 6, and as they had prepared for me, and insisted upon my remaining for the night, made up my mind, and put the children to bed at 8. There are now five generations in this house: Colonel Nugent, his mother and grandmother, his daughter and her daughter, all eating, drinking and talking .........



END From his obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine:

LT. COL. Edw. NUGENT.
March23. In Welbeck-street, aged 80, Edward Nugent, esq. Lieut-Colonel on the East India Company's Bombay Establishment, and afterwards of the Buckinghamshire Militia, and a Magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant of that county.
This officer was the last surviving son of Captain Walter Nugent of the Royal Marines, who was mortally wounded in the battle of Brooklyn in the first American war. At the age of thirteen he entered the Navy as a Midshipman in the Hawk sloop of war, employed in surveying the island of Madagascar : but, on arriving at Bombay in May 1770, he was advised by his uncle Captain Edward Nugent, then one of the senior officers of the Bombay establishment, to leave the Navy for the military service of the East India Company. In September of that year be served as a cadet, under his uncle, against the coolies or pirates in Guzcrut; and in March 1771 he was appointed Ensign.
In Dec. 1774, being with the army at the siege of Tannah, and commanding the battery guard, he seized an opportunity to ascertain, at great personal risk, that the breach was practicable ; and, having reported the same to Brig. -Gen. Gordon, he was appointed to art as a Lieutenant with the 2nd European Grenadier Company, and assisted to storm the place on the following day.
In April 1775, he commanded a detachment on board the Revenge, in an action with the Mahratta fleet, in which their principal vessel, of 40 guns, was burnt ; and for his conduct on this occasion, be was presented, at the recommendation of Commodore Moore, with a brevet of Lieutenant, an instance of promotion then unknown in the Bombay establishment.
In 1778 he accompanied the grenadiers, on the service to Poonah.
In 1779 he was appointed secretary to Col. Hartley, who commanded a detachment sent to join Brig.-Gen. Goddard's army; and be also officiated as Colonel Hartley's aid-de-camp in every action that occurred, particularly at the siege of Ahmedabad. Colonel Hartley bad afterwards the command of a separate army in the Concan, and Lieutenant Nugent served under him for two campaigns, and during several severe actions, as his secretary and aid-de-camp.
In 1781, Brig.-Gen. Goddard, having been appointed Commander-in-Chief at Bombay, nominated Lieut. Nugent one of his staff for that establishment. In the same year he was appointed Captain by brevet, and to the command of the 1st battalion of Native troops, which he held for six years. Gen. Goddard was in Oct. 1782 succeeded by Brig.-Gen. Mathews, who appointed Capt. Nugent his secretary, but did not long retain the post of Commander in-chief.
In April 1783 Captain Nugent embarked tor Mangalore, where he commended his battalion during the siege; "for its distinguished valour and discipline" during which, it now bears the word MANGALORE on its colours and appointments. On his return to Bombay he was appointed full Captain ; but in April 1786 was obliged from illness to repair to Europe, whence his state of health did not again permit him to return to a hot climate.
From 1789 to 1706 he was employed by the East India Company to raise recruits in Ireland; he raised there upwards of 8000 men, and (as shown by an affidavit on the records of the Committee of Shipping at the India House,) lost 3000L. of his own fortune.
He afterwards commanded a corps of Yeomanry in Dublin, and whilst so engaged in 1796 the Marquess of Buckingham addressed in his favour a letter to his Royal Highness the Commander-in chief, in which he described him as "my relation Mr. E. Nugent, one of the oldest and most meritorious officers on the Bombay establishment" and recommended him to raise recruits for his Majesty's service. In consequence of this letter, Lt.-Col. Nugent received three letters of service to raise and command three corps of foot, 1st for 1000 men 1st Nov. 1798; 2nd for 2000 men 1st July 1800; and 3rd for 2000 men 1st August following. The two latter were completed in one year.
Lt.-Col. Nugent subsequently resided at Lillies in Buckinghamshire (since, the seat of Lord Nugent), and served the office of High Sheriff of that County in 1805. He was Lieut.-Colonel of the Royal Bucks Local Militia ; which command he resigned in May 1813. He was some years Chairman of the Club in London, who placed his whole-length portrait in their principal room. For his civilities to the royal family of France when residing as his neighbours at Hartwell, he received the decoration of St. Louis.
A fuller memoir of Lt.-Col. Nugent, from which the present is abridged, will be found in the East India Military Calendar, vol. ii. pp. 483 - 495. [Letter from Col Nugent to his daughter Julia wife of Frederick Ayrton, postmarked 1827 and addressed to Mrs Ayrton, at the Rev. F Bowerbank, Rectory, Chiswick]


30th August

I inclose My dearest Julia, a very sensible and well written letter from Acton whose Mind begins to appear like the Sun from behind a Cloud -- I think he richly deserves the shilling he demands -- I was very serious in expressing a Wish that you should make a Will -- Yours being entirely personal property except the House at Aylesbury must be very short -- That is settled on you and your Children and would go by Law to your eldest surviving Son and his Children, in failure of Him and all your Sons to your Daughter - as far as I can judge the following would be a good will -

I, J. R. C. A. Ayrton Widow of Frederick Ayrton now residing at 36 High St Marylebone do make and declare this to be my last Will and Testament

-- The only Freehold Property to which I may become entitled after the Death of my Father and Mother having been settled at the time of my Marriage I hereby dispose of my Personal Property as follows --

-- To my beloved Daughter M Ayrton should she is survive me I leave all my wearing Apparel, Watch, Rings and Trinkets of every Sort and the Sum of Five Thousand Pounds to be paid to her on her attaining the Age of twenty one Years and in case of her Death before she attains that Age the said sum of 5000£ to be equally divided between her surviving Brothers -

-- To my dear Sons F, E N, A and J.H. Ayrton I give and bequeath the Remainder of my personal property to be equally divided amongst them share and share alike on their attaining the Age of twenty one Years and should either of them die before attaining that age his or their share or shares to be equally divided between the Survivors -

I hereby institute and appoint my Father Edwd Nugent Esqr, my Mother Adriana Nugent, now residing at 117 George Street Hanover Square, Geo Dardis Esq at 4 South Street Manchester Square, and Mrs Bowerbank wife of the Reverend J. B. Rector of Chiswick Executors of this my Last Will and Testament and Guardians of my dear Children until they reach the age twenty one Years and should any Portion of the property left to my dear Children be required to put them forward in Life that Portion to be so employed by my Executors and their Guardians as in their Discretion may appear necessary -

I have named G D because I do not believe a more trustworthy (?) Noble Man exists and I have named Mrs B. after him because I trust and hope she will never have any trouble on the Subject that is to say that you may long survive after your children have arrived at Mature Age. Your Mother would have written but she has a severe Cold

Give my best regards to Mrs B. and believe me to be what I truly am -

You most affectionate Father

Edwd Nugent
[From Edward Nugent’s account of his own life: “In 1781, I was appointed a Captain by Brevet, and at the same time to the Command of the 1st, or senior Battalion of Native Troops on the Bombay Establishment, a situation of equal trust and confidence with the Command of a Regiment at the present time, which Command I held for six years”.

Written at Vissrabhy – April 1786

Hail sacred Spring! Hygeian Water hail!
Thee and thy well known Shades, revisit Snow
And with Joy retrace thy numrous Beauties,
Which nor to Baia, nor to modern Bath
Far fam’d Bar(?), or the sprightly Spaw(?)
Shall longer yield for Pleasure as for Health –
And you, bright Maids, who erst invoked (?) within
These sacred Groves and deign’d t’inspire my Verse
Unmeet. Not scornful nor avertedly
Behold your former Notary –
Here from our parent Earth spontaneous springs
The salutary Stream whose pow’rful Force
Arrests the progress of that dire disease
Which daily desolates this Eastern Land
And sinks the manly Briton to the Shades –
Death’s fatal Powr hath aim’d this deadliest Shaft
At nobliest objects, else had the Muse not mourn’d
As Friends lamented now the lov’d Lorenzo
Dear was the youth to all, how dear to those
Whom social Intercourse made call his Friends,
These fond but (?) Tears shall witness
(?) by the sorrowing Muse o’er (?) Tomb –
The (?) here shall quickly yield
It’s choicest Treasures – Here (?) the Ven’rable Tree
Briar (?) like spreads forth its numerous (?)
And seeks again it’s native Earth
True Emblem of that Love where kindred Souls
Connubially are join’d, gathering from each fond Act
And under Thought (?) and fresher Root –
Here too the cooling Tamrind umbrageous
Yields a grateful (?) were the studious Mind
May meet its sweetest pleasures –
Nor wants the (?) those various Charms that please
The Eye of Taste –
The winding (?) and the antique Dome
Sacred to Rites we hold idolatrous
Here strike the Light with rapt’rous Wonder –
But if more active you should seek (?) Sports
Which Britain to her rural Sons affords
The whirring Partridge and the whistling (?)
The (?) Plover and the circling Snipe
(?) to the Sky here num’rous
Shall (?) your pleasant Soil –
But should you seek the (?)
Who look for safety in the shady Jungle
With caution tread for there remorseless reigns
Th (?) Tyger, Tyrant of those Woods
Who (?) from the brake with sudden spring
(?) vain Man – Ye (?) attend
Proud Man te mighty Sovreign of the Globe
Falls at his Feet an undistinguish’d Prey
There too the (?) Snake sworn foe to Man
Inflicts his mortal Wound –
Not far removed from hence is seen the Spot
Where once dear bought the gallant Hartley gain’d
Increase of Glory in the well fought Field
Where with a small but chosen Band he brav’d
Each daring Effort and successive Charges
Of the num’rous Foe, whom martial (?)
Show’d himself the Road to Victory.
Unlike his (?) Brothers, who from the Rear
Direct the dubious War he like a Soldier
Led the foremost (?) Band and met a Soldier’s Fate
Nor fell (?) by the Boy he fought
Here too the generous Goddard (?) with (?)
His fresh earn’d laurels blooming on his Brow
To save his noble Partner in the War
With Pride (?) Chiefs his Friends
And often prays he ne’er may shed for one
The grateful (?), which now the other claims
Then hath the Man now soar’d (?)
(?) and his former Flight
Thoughtless of Wealth, nor (?) of Fame
The (?) no end save one, th’approving (?)
Of those fair Dames for whom his (?)
Leaving to those, whom vain or mercenary
Motives (?), the (?) and (?) Wealth
and Fame bestow

EN
[Letter from Eward Nugent to Acton S Ayrton concerning Lady Nugent’s will]


Ballinde(?) Mallingar
Ireland

4 May 1936

My Dear Acton,

I write to inform you that since I last wrote I have read an attested copy of the Will of the late Lady Nugent, and that, taking all the circumstances of the case into consideration, I think it one of the most nefarious transactions I ever heard of, and plainly proves that there has been collusion and fraud between the parties. I find that you were right as to the £10, and the £10 per an: left to me – and that Peter Fitzgerald and his Sister were left £10 each to buy mourning – and his Sister again willed £50 as Mary Nugent Fizg the Testators God Daughter – Fizmaurice Fizgerald who’s living in a garrett in Dublin £12 per an: and his father £10 per an: - £300 to build a Monument in the Abbey of Multy where I brought you – and the Interest of £200 in the 31/2 per Gents to the poor house – and yet these poor creatures have been kept out of their just dues for 5 years – However altho’ I was not aware of those affairs there were others who knew more about it. I believe the late Act called the Statute of Limitations takes in Legacies under Wills – therefore that must be looked into in time and my idea is that a Bill must be filed by the Legatees to compel the Executors to carry the (?) of the Will into (?).
The principal Execor Nicholas Stephen Nugent Hodges Nugent (5 names the Man has) resides at No 6 Ormond Vella Bath – he of course has had an interest all along in letting things remain as they are as he is ‘Residuary Legatee’ – I should like to know the address of the other Execor Mr Rogers, who has not the same interest in concealing the affairs, but how do they account for taking no steps after they both administered, the 3rd Execor Elizabeth Pipon not having joined in the administration. I saw Sir O: in Dublin last week, of course there was not one word of these affairs and I am certain he thinks we know nothing about them – I understand Lady N: left upwards of thirty thousand pounds after her – she charges the Estate under and by virtue of her Marriage Settlement of 1700 and the Will of her husband – I understand Sir O denies her powers but he is mistaken – I think I can borrow a copy of Sir Peter’s Will in Dublin and presume the Legatees will take the first legal opinion in Ireland. It is thought now that Sir James’s Legacies were good – if so the judgements ought to stand also; but the Legacies are (?) many years ago – I hope you have nearly concluded your settlement with Sir O:

I hope when you have nothing
better to do, you will indulge
me with a Line even though
you are so overwhelmed with
business it is a good thing,
when one has not time, to
(?) make time.

With (?) regards for your
good (?)
very sincerely yours
Edward Nugent
[The proposed name of the Corps described below is one clue as to when this proposal was written. William, the third son of George III, was born at Buckingham Palace in 1765. In 1789 he was granted the title, the Duke of Clarence. He became King William IV in 1830 and died on 20th June 1837. Colonel Nugent died in 1836 aged 81, so the proposal was possibly written between 1830 and 1836. For a long time politicians had been concerned about the problems of law and order in London, following the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester in 1819. In 1829 Robert Peel as Home Secretary decided to reorganize the way London was policed. As a result of this reform, the new metropolitan police force became known as "Peelers" or "Bobbies". In 1830 unemployment in rural areas began to grow and the invention of the threshing machine posed another threat to labourers. The summer and autumn of 1830 saw a wave of riots, rick-burnings and machine-breaking. In a debate in the House of Lords in November 1830, Earl Grey, the Whig leader, suggested that the best way to reduce this violence was to introduce parliamentary reform. The Duke of Wellington replied that the existing constitution was so perfect that he could not imagine any possible alternative that would be an improvement on the system. The King was against reform. When news of what Wellington had said in Parliament was reported, his home in London was attacked by a mob and he failed to get the support of influential Tories such as Robert Peel, who believed that opposition to all reform could lead to civil war in Britain. It would seem consistent with Edward Nugent’s general approach to politics that he would be on the side of the King and Wellington. This was a time when the political battle between the Haves and the Have Nots in England’s emerging democracy was intense.]

To Colonel Edward Nugent, Stafford Club
(under seal)

Prospectus of a Plan for the Preservation of the Public Peace and of Private Property

A Committee to be appointed for these Purposes in the City of London and every City and Town in England whose population amounts to 4,000 Souls -
Associations to be formed under the guidance of these Committees, of able-bodied House holders, whose age shall not exceed 40 or be under 20 -
Each individual to supply himself with a light Musquet and Bayonet (?) or pair of Pistols, Uniform Sword and 40 Rounds of Ball Cartridges which they will be requested to keep in good order -
A (?) Situation to be (?) in case of alarm when this Force in each Parish is to assemble –
The Centre House in the Street to be the point of assembly for the Inhabitants of that Street from whence they will move when assembled and being previously arm’d to the Place of general assembly collecting as they go along the Members of such Streets as they (?) who may not already have join’d –
The members to be requested to make themselves acquainted with the Manual and Platoon Excercises - to form Sections and to wheel into Line being all that is necessary. Committee will select the officers and non commissioned officers –
They are to be form’d into Divisions, careful placing the Burghers most contiguous to each other in each Division –
None but Men of the most loyal and approved Principles without any preference to Party Politics to be admitted to these Corps –
An Annual Subscription of only 5 Shillings to be placed at the Disposal of the Committee for such purposes as they may deem necessary –
Gentlemen to be selected to act as Adjutants when assembled and an Officer or non commissioned Officer in each Street –
Personnel enrolled in the Corps to be at Liberty to subscribe a Sum not exceeding 5 Shillings annually for the Purposes of the Association (?) - -
The Corps to be called “Royal William Associations for the Preservation of Public Peace and private Property” –
The Members of this Association to be sworn in as special Constables and when assembled to place themselves under the Direction of the nearest Magistrate or one of the Superintendents of Police –
House holders may serve by Substitute such Substitute being an Inmate of their own Dwelling and of whom adherence to the Principles on which the Association is form’d they can well (?) -
Admittance into the Corps, Rejection, or dismissal therefrom to be vested in the Power of the Parochial Committee –
A light Field Piece a 3 pounder with ammunition to be kept in readiness at each Centre Station -
[On a piece of paper folded as if a letter and addressed to Colonel Nugent, 9 Somerset Street, he wrote and initialled the following pieces. He was born in 1855.]

The Kiss 1737

Scarce hoping to obtain such Bliss
From Delia once I sought a Kiss
But she too coy so precious Fair
Resolv’d to grant but half my Pray’r
For when the promis’d Bliss I take
She only yields her charming Cheek
Her Cheeks tis true at once disclose
The Peach’s soft down the (?)
And then allowed her Cheek to touch
By gaining that will still gain much
But Oh! how bless’d is he that sips
The honie’d sweets of Delia’s Lips
Who may permitted chance to taste
a Breath so free thro’ Lips so chaste.

EN

Bombay – a Song 1774

My good Friends be it known
This Song is my own
Not better for that you will say
But I hope very soon
That you’ll alter your Tune
When you find that the Subject’s Bombay.
Fal de rol

Our Governor (?), od bods if I durst
Of him I should many things say,
Well all I’ll say is this he can’t take it amiss
He reigned o’er the Fools at Bombay
Fal de rol

The whole (?) they shall be my Tent
For they’re often out of the Way
Low Pride blinds their Eyes, they Soldiers despise
Because they’ve no Pow’r in Bombay

At the Sound of the Drums the Soldier becomes
With (?) quite (?)
This d-d Stuff when he drinks on his Duty (?) Thanks
For Duty’s not liked at Bombay

Ev’ry day’s to be seen Young Bucks of the Marine
From Watson’s (?)
For on board of this Ship they quickly must slip
If (?) they’re found at Bombay
When the Doctor’s at (?) they may call him who (?)
And his Patients impatiently stay
Tho’ a Man’s broke his Leg he will ne’er budge a Peg
But leave him to die in Bombay

So your M(?) to prolong You have now had my Song
Then fill up your Glasses I pray
Let’s not think of the Times nor yet of it’s Crimes
But drink to our Friends in Bombay
Fal de rol

[Edward Nugent would have been 25 in 1780. According to his own account: “In November, 1779, I was appointed Secretary to Colonel Hartley, commanding a detachment sent to join General Goddard's Army. During the whole of that Campaign in every Action that occurred, and more particularly at the Storm of Ahmedabad, led by Colonel Hartley, I acted as his Aide de Camp as well as his Secretary.” He was made a Captain in the service of the H.E.I.C., by commission issued at Bombay Castle on 26th December, 1781. His only sister (Peggy) was presumably younger than him – her date of birth is unknown so far]

Camp before Ahmedabad

January 1780

To Miss Nugent and Miss Taylor in answer to their Dedication(?) of the Indiscreet Marriage

From India’s burning Soil to Twiknam’s Shade
Where Pope harmonious gladden’d evry Glade
In Muse fraternal griefs and Sister’s Love
And in soft Verse would wish his own to (?)
Flow smooth ye Numbers, gentle is the Theme
Not ye(?) that of which young virgins dreamed
From heat retired on Flowery Banks reclined
The Urchin G(?) possessing all this(?) Mind –
Now hath a Girl so (?) and so mild
In sense a Woman tho’ in years a Child
Dared all at once to tread the Public Stage
Nor trembled at the lash of Critic Rage
Where was thy fond thy faithful Brother then
To guide, restrain or aid thy youthful Pen
But hold my Muse such partial praises spare
Of which a Sister Authoress claims an equal share
That share shall have while Wit and Sense combined
Serve to improve and form the female Mind
Accept Dear Girls joint partners of the (?)
Accept my warmest wishes and my praise –
(?) them tis all my humble Muse requires
What Friendship and fraternal Love inspires
An equal (?) as now bespeaks your Friend
Who dared not else these trifling lines to send
Prays you’ll restrain nor try your Critic pow’r
On this the offspring of a lonely hour –
From fighting fields and all the din of War
The Muses fly and all such scenes abhor –
I to such Scenes by fate too early borne
(?) from the Page of (?)
Am left such loss for ever to deplore
Unhappy Exile (?)
But still how blessed would (?) but (?) send
To mind a Sister and so sweet a Friend

EN