history of sir thomas picton
These are some of the popular topics this blog covers. 1830. It reached Canterbury the same evening and was deposited in a room at the Fountain Inn where Picton had dined on his way to the Continent. The Edwardian city hall in Cardiff is home to a set of 12 marble statues, the “Heroes of Wales”, and Picton is one them. At this, Picton's counsel stressed that the use of torture had been requested by the local magistrate, that there were copious authorities showing its legality under Spanish law, and that Calderón had been old enough to be legally tortured. Those charges related principally to accusations of excessive cruelty in the detection and punishment of practitioners of obeah, severity to slaves, and of execution of suspects out of hand without due process. Named by Governor Sir Thomas Gore Browne in October 1859, ten years after the town site had been surveyed, after Sir Thomas Picton. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Carmarthen has its celebratory monument and Haverfordwest, Picton's home town, named one of its two new comprehensive schools after him in the 1970s. That obelisk is still there today, a fitting tribute to the hard and sometimes contradictory man who helped keep Europe safe from the grasp of Napoleon Bonaparte. [24], On subsequent examination, Picton's body was found to have suffered a serious musket ball wound to the hip at Quatre Bras on the 16th. [6], After the winter in the lines of Torres Vedras, he added to his reputation and to that of his division, the "Fighting" 3rd, at the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro. H. B. Robinson, Memoirs of Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton, 2 vols. [26] He was then interred in the family vault at St George's, Hanover Square. He fought with distinction in the various West Indian campaigns and by 1801, now with the rank of brigadier general, he was made governor of Trinidad. http://historyliveshere.cahttp://etruemedia.comCanadian History - Short documentary about he life of Sir Thomas Picton Sir Thomas Picton Credit: English Heritage In 1806 he was convicted of ordering the illegal torture of a 14-year-old girl, Louisa Calderon. In 2020, Cardiff council voted to remove Picton's statue in the "Heroes of Wales" gallery in Cardiff City Hall.[4]. Haverfordwest g.s. Sir Thomas Picton. image caption Sir Thomas Picton's reputation for brutality came from the Caribbean In 1801, 14-year-old Luisa Calderon stood accused of being involved in the theft of around £500. Personally, I was never too happy about that choice because I really do find that Picton's record in Tobago sticks in my gullet. Need some assistance? ... "Mr Gloucester, the Attorney-General at Trinidad, verified several books as books of authority, in which it was expressly laid down, that by the Spanish law torture might be inflicted; these books were, the Borvillia, the Curia Phillipion, and the Elesando. & C. including his correspondence, from originals in possesion of his family (London 1835), two vols., 1835 West Wales Historical Records (1910–29) , xii, 133-62, xiii, 1-32 [5] He was born in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire on (probably) 24 August 1758. But whereas Denbigh is now showing the kind of scruple over such a hero we might expect in the 21st century, neither Carmarthen nor Haverfordwest showed such nice morality in the past. [3] Controversy over the torture and Picton's role in the colonial slave trade continued. He was soon appointed major general and at the personal request of the Duke of Wellington commanded a division during the Peninsula War in Spain. He was born in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire on (probably) 24 August 1758. When Napoleon escaped from Elba and the wars began again, Picton soon found himself in Belgium. He was seriously wounded in the affair and was lucky to survive. NO REASON TO CELEBRATE: Sir Thomas Picton obelisk on Picton Terrace (Photo by Matthew Horwood/Getty Images) A MONUMENT to a 19th Century ‘monster’ slave owner will not be removed from a … Frieze from the Picton Monument. Sir Thomas Picton School was a secondary school in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales, with around 1,250 students, 200 of whom were in Years 12 and 13. I'd have settled, I think, for maybe the "Gwen John Comprehensive School". ; Lochee’s mil. Sir Thomas Picton used the trade to boost his wealth, and even had a dozen … In June 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd protests and the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol, the Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Dan De'Ath, and the leader of Cardiff Council, Huw Thomas, supported calls to remove the City Hall statue on account of Picton's links to slavery. In the wake of his death a monument to him was erected in St Paul's and the impressive Picton Monument was built at the western end of Carmarthen town. If you aren't sure what RSS is you'll find our beginner's guide to RSS useful. [20], At the Battle of Vitoria, Picton led his division across a key bridge under heavy fire. The regiment was then stationed at Gibraltar, where he remained until he was made cap… For the next 5 years he held the island with a garrison he considered inadequate against the threats of internal unrest and of reconquest by the Spanish. None of this seemed to affect his military career. [6], By then, reports of arbitrariness and brutality associated with his governorship had led to a demand at home for his removal. SIR Thomas Picton is a Welsh hero. s. of Thomas Picton of Poyston, Pemb. Draws upon quotations from other veterans of the campaign and Picton's own letters in the National Library of Wales to chart a career marked by scandal and public controversy. In December 1803 he was arrested by order of the Privy Council and promptly released on bail set at £40,000. [12], Picton was, however, tried in the Court of King's Bench before Lord Ellenborough in 1806 on a single charge: the misdemeanour of having in 1801 caused torture to be unlawfully inflicted to extract a confession from Luisa Calderón, a young free mulatto girl suspected of assisting one of her lovers to burgle the house of the man with whom she was living, making off with about £500. During the negotiations leading to the Peace of Amiens of 1802, many of the British inhabitants petitioned against the return of the island to Spain; this together with Picton's and Abercromby's representations, ensured the retention of Trinidad as a British possession. Shortly after this, however, at Busaco, Picton succeeded in driving French forces across a ravine in considerable disorder. Picton was also accused of the execution of a dozen slaves. Authoritative sources such as Havard 2004 give his date of birth as 24 August 1758. [22], On 18 June, at Waterloo, when Napoleon sent in the Comte d'Erlon's Corps to attack the Anglo-allied centre near La Haye Sainte at 13:30, Picton launched a bayonet charge on the advancing French column. In October Picton was appointed to the colonelcy of the 77th Regiment of Foot. It’s official. b. and h. of Rev. He is chiefly remembered for his exploits under Wellington in the Iberian Peninsular War of 1807–1814, during which he fought in many engagements, displaying great bravery and persistence. At 6:00 am on 26 June, to the strains of the "Dead March" in Saul, the funeral procession accompanied by the 52nd Regiment of Foot with reversed arms moved off towards London where it arrived on 3 July. By 1778 he had bought himself the rank of captain in the 75th Regiment. Perhaps the most unfortunate thing in all this is how the majority of us have become complicit in the obliteration of the history and memory of that free Mulata girl, Louisa Calderon.