Notices of Major-General William Hoy, from the Parish Registers of Carluke and Other Sources

PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F SO , JUN , 1872E10 .

VI.

NOTICES OF MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM HOY, FROM THE PARISH REGISTERS OF CARLUKE AND OTHER SOURCES. BY D. R. KANKEN, ESQ., CARLTJKE.

Every earnest student must have experience desire dth knoo et w more personae oth f l histor labourd yan Generaf so l bioe Royth - f 1o tha y nan graphica "le supplynotice Liveth m Eminenf n hi I o sf s.o t Scotsmen," published in 1835, a short notice of him will be found in an appendix— a notice which does not even fix the place of his nativity. In the accoune paristh f Carlukef o ho Eeve t th .y Db , r James Scott, written i nr Joh 1792Si r n fo Sinclair', s "Statistical Account, s statei t i " d that Eeve e nativparisha th th s . f Generad Stepheo ewa an ; y Eo ln Belf o l Eyemouth, who 1839n i , , wrot e articlth e e "Carluke e " Neth r wfo " Statistical Account of Scotland," mentions the place and date of birth. registee Th baptismf ro Carlukef o s , under the.yea rfollowe 1726th s -ha , ing entry: " WinJoho t . S n. . Baptized 4 Eoy borns y wa , Ma , , M.ay 12. Capt. Walter Lockhart, and Gavin Muir, witnesses." General Eoy was therefore a Lanarkshire man. His father lived at Milton-head, in Car- luke parish, and was gardener as well as land-steward or factor in the servic e Hamiltonth f eo f Hallcraigo s ; and s sucha , s namhi , e occurs fre- quentl e sederunth n yi f heritorso t r Willia s actinSi a , r fo gm Gordon, r CharleM n so s s Hamiltohi d an n Gordo f Hallcraino Miltond an g , from 1739 appointeonwardss wa e H severan o d. l occasion transaco t s t busi- heritorse th r examplenesr Fo fo s chose.s 1742n i wa , e nh , sel"e o t th l kirk cloc d case; kan s appointe n 1746i "wa e h , d "to receive estimates for repairin bridge gth e neae Manse;th r requeste s n 1747i "wa e h , o dt " sel mans la y trees growing roun minister'e th d s yard wouls "a d make up a certain sum, &c., &c. He was ordained an elder of the kirk 3d July 1737 d die an ,df 1748 o towardd , en age e . sth Johd51 n Eoye th , General's grandfather, hel a similad r position unde e Hamiltonth r f o s Hallcraig; and his uncle, James- Eoy, acted in somewhat the same

1 See Notices of General Roy and his family, by D. E. Ranldn, Esq., Carluke, in Proceedingse th f volo . i . . 145p , . NOTICE MAJOR-GENERAF SO L WILLIA3 56 M ROY.

capacity under the Loekharts of Lee. The rh'st time the name of the parochiae eldeth f ro Joh occury y l an nregisterPoll-tae Ro n th si n i s xsi lisr 1695 yearfo o t tw , s befor e General'e birtth eth f ho s father, namely, 15th April 1697. The entry in the Poll-tax, list is as follows :—" Jo. roy servite Lory M do t rhallcraig—00.19.04. " William (General Eoy) and his "brother James were educated at the schoo theif o l r native parish unde r JohM r n Russell formee ,th r partlt ya grammae th r schoo s uncertaii f Lanark t o li d e nan ,th whethed ha e h r highebenefiy an f ro t scholastic trainingwels i t i l t knowbu ; n that James, his younger brother, hel bursare grammade th th n yi r schoo collegd an l e of Glasgow, founde e Countes n 173th i d y b 7 f Eorfaro s , from 1738 till 1751, and, after finishing hia studies, he held in 1756 an appointment at Shettleston Chapel of Ease; acted as assistant to the ministers of St Cuthbert's, Edinburgh r severafo , l years d ultimatelan ; s presenteywa d to the parish of Prestonpans in 1765, where he lived scarcely two years, his death occurring on the 3d of September 1767, at the age of 37. Durin e militargth y operation f 1745-o s suppreso t 6 e rebellionth s , headed by Prince Charles Stuart, from experience gained in conducting forcess hi forces face th wa ,t d upon the Duk f Cumberlaneo e d th tha y b t opening up of the country by good roads, and by a proper knowledge of its topographical features, military operations could be made more effective certaind an . Soon afte e Prince'th r s rou t Cullodena t survea , f Scotyo - lans accordingldwa y resolve s earlwa dy y uponengageRo . n thai d t important wora subordinat n ki e position s namhi r efo ,doe t occuno s r Arme th n yi Lismanr fo t y years after that time n 174I actey . 7Eo n d i the capacity of Deputy Quarter-Master in the survey corps—a post which havy ma e hele h d durin greatee gth r par f eigho t t years befor survee eth y was interrupted by the urgent need of forces for the protection of the patri- monial possessions of his Majesty in Germany, in which service he was called to take an active part, a movement ultimately involving Britain in war with France, which extended to North America and to India. plact fi recoro a et e e militarb Thidth y sma y progres e futurth f o es General firse Th t tim. e tha e namth t f Williao e appeary e mth Ro n i s Army List is in March 1757; and the following statement, compiled from successive army lists, comprehends almos l thaal t knows e i t th n no subject:— 4 56 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F SO , JUNE 10., 1872.

1757. March.—Practitione r day)Engineerf o rpe . . 3s t s(a 175714—Practitioney Ma . Engineersf o r s Ensig a ,e corps th f no , wit harme ranth Lieutenan s ya n ki t fromh 4t . January 1756. 1759. March. 17.—Sub-Engineer—Lieutenan Engineersf o t . 1759. September 10.—Engineer in Ordinary—Captain of Engineers. 1762. July 23.—Enginee Ordinary—Lieut.-Coln i r Armye th n i .. 1763. January—Deputy Quarter-Master in Germany. 1764-6.—Lieut.-Col Army—Captaie th n i . Engineersf no . 1767-90.—Deputy Quarter-Master General. 1777. August 29.—Colone Army—Captaie th n i l Engineersf no . 177830.—Commissary-Generay Ma . f Storeso l , provisio d foragan n e to all the forces at home and abroad. 1781. October 19.—Major-Genera Army—Capte th n i l Engineersf o . . 1783. January 1.—Lieut.-Col. of Engineers—Major-Gen, in the Army. 1785. September 19.—Col Engineers—Major-Genf o . Armye th n i ,. 1786. November 15.—Colone f 30to l h Eoot—(name removed from Engineer's lists). 1790.—I Arme nth y Lis f thio t s year, General Eoy's name appears for the last time 17th on the list of Major- Generals. obituare th n I y notice "e timee Gentleman'th th n f ,i so s Magazined "an in the "Scots Magazine," he is represented as holding the position-of Colone Artillerf o l n chargyi e surve th f ef o Scotlany o n 1746i d , when only" twenty year f age d helo se Arm o placan ,th dn n yi e List n tilte l years later erron a , r carried forwar Watt'y b d s " Bibliotheca,- "e An "th nual Register," the " Lives of Eminent Scotsmen," &c., to the " Scottish Nation" of yesterday. During the survey it is well known that he acted under Lieut.-Colonel David Watson in quite a subordinate position. Of the services of General Eoy in the field, in that momentous period comprehendin latee gth rreig e year th f earlGeorgd o f n o an sy . pareII t reigofthe Georg nof e III., nothin knowgis n beyon resuldthe frequentof t engagement Germann i s combination yi n wit Prussiae th h n t armyBu . his scientific career can be more fully traced. With the peace of 1763, the Government had under consideration the scheme of a general survey of NOTICES OF MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM ROY. 565

the British. Islands, to be under the direction of General (then Colonel) Roy t nothinbu , s don gwa n twelv ei e year Americae f peaceth o s d an , n war put an end for the time to the project. The General was in Scotland n 176i 4 taking plan f Romao s n works d collectinan , g materias bi r fo l " Military Antiquities of the Bomans in Britain"—a "work of great merit, published three years after his death by the Antiquarian Society of London, of which he was a member. The survey of Scotland on which Roy had been long engaged with a corps of Engineers resulted in a work known Duke ath s f Cumberland'eo s map, execute scala n edo which afforded scop minutr fo e e details. This n mapmanuscripti , s preservei , e th n i d Ordnance Office, and although admitted to be imperfect in some respects, t certainli matchlesa s ywa s productio times it 1774n I r .n fo , undee th r title " Mappa Britannia?," produce &c.y Ro ,reduce a n do p thid sscalema , on a single sheet 18 by 23-| inches, a map which again appeared in the valuable posthumous work above referred to.1 General Roy was elected a member of the Royal Society 26th March, and admitte Aprih d 9t r thi lFo s1767 Societ. e prepareyh read an da successio f interestinno d mosgan t valuable communications, extending over the last twelve years of his life, all of which not only appeared in the Philosophical Transactions, but were published in a separate form. The firshighl a thesf o s t eywa interesting paper rea 1777—n di experin "O - ment observationd san s mad Britain ei orden ni attaio t e r th rul na r efo measurin heightf go s wit barometer.e hth " Halley ,r GeorgDelucSi d ean , Shnckburgh had previously investigated the subject, the last with great accuracye formulae measurementh th t r bu ;fo s f heighto t y thib s s method, carefully tested by the old and tedious mode of levelling, are laboure th du o et Generaf so l Boy. n advancI publiy an f ceo measure e Genera 178n th i , 3s founwa l t a d work laboua s a , f loveo r , projectin basga extenden ea linr fo e d triangu- lation, in order to fix certain conspicuous local points in relation to each worthe b y noticf yo ma t 1eI that durin investigations ghi referencn i s e th o t e various atmospheric influence e barometerth n o s ,t onlGenerano yy madEo - l ex e periments on the expansion of mercury—of the glass tubes containing it, and of air when heated; but also on the expansion of air and vapour of water in various pro- portions, througd an hconsiderabla e rang temperaturf eo pressure—experimentsd ean , e fivs recordn th o t , which well-knowindicatew no e th d n law, subsequently pro- pounded by Dalton, regarding mixtures of vapours and gases. 6 56 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F SO , JUNE 10, 1872.

other. This paved the way for more extended operations soon after entered upon, resulting in an account of minute details in the well-known paper read before the Eoyal Society, for which the Capley medal for 1787 was awarded papea ; r followe 1790n i d "Ay b , n Accoun f Trigonometricao t l Operations, whereby the distance between the meridians of the Eoyal Ob- servatorie f Greenwico s e determined, b Parid n an h sca e printin"th f o g which the General was engaged in superintending for the Philosophi- cal Transactions at the time of his death. In conducting these observa- tions great difficulty was experienced from want of appropriate instruments, which n somi , e degree s obviate e generositwa , th y b d f Georgyo e III., who provided fund tood an deea ks p interes experimentse th n i t e Th . standar lengtf do h use thesn di e experiments s believedi t i , stils i , l pre- served in the Eoyal Observatory. The general survey of the British Islands, contemplated it nfinall no 1763 s y wa entere, d upon till 1791, s eve ha o more rn d sincs an , wa e whey beeEo nn extended towards completion. The death of General Eoy was sudden. It is said that the night on which he died he was transacting business at the "War Office till 8 o'clock. s hous diee hi H t Argyln dea i l street, aftehourso tw r ' illness30te th hn o , June 1790, having just entered his s 65t s deatwa hhi e yeart h A . Colonel of the 30th Foot, and held the offices of Deputy Quarter-Master Majesty's ohi f s forces, surveyo e coastth batteries d f o sran Felloa s wa w, of the Eoyal Society and of the Society of Antiquaries, London.