Author: BURGOYNE, John
Biography:
BURGOYNE, John (1722/3-92: ODNB)
Born in Westminster, London, on 4 Jan., he was the son of Captain John Burgoyne of Sherbourne, Warwick, and his wife Anna Maria Burneston and was baptised at St. Margaret’s, Westminster, on 5 Feb. 1722/3. He may have been fathered by Robert Benson, Baron Bingley, who later made a substantial settlement on Anna Maria. His name appears in the lists for Westminster School in 1733 and 1735-38. At Westminster he became a close friend of James Smith Stanley with whose sister, Lady Charlotte Stanley (d 1776), he later eloped. According to the clandestine marriage registers, they were married on 14 Apr. 1751; they had at least one child, a daughter, born in 1752. Burgoyne sold his commission in the Royal Dragoons and they travelled to Europe. They returned in 1755. Burgoyne’s subsequent career included both political posts—in 1761-68 he was MP for Midhurst, Sussex, and, in 1768, for Preston—and a military career where he served in France, in the American War, and as Commander in Chief in Ireland (1782-84). In the American war he was present at Bunker Hill, was in supreme command in 1777, and surrendered to Horatio Gates at Saratoga after extensive British losses. Burgoyne, who had been wounded, was allowed passage to Britain on condition that his army never again served in America. On his return Burgoyne had to answer to parliament for his conduct—he was blamed for too unswerving obedience to orders—and eventually he came to oppose the American war. After retiring from his position in Ireland he devoted himself to literary pursuits. His first play, The Maid of the Oaks, dates from 1774 but his greatest success was with The Heiress (1786). After his wife’s death he fathered four children—two sons and two daughters—with a married actor, Susan Caulfield; his lengthy and detailed will, proved on 22 Aug. 1792, provided for Susan and the children. He died at his London home, 10 Hertford Street in Mayfair, on 4 Aug. 1792 and, as directed in his will, he was buried in the North Cloister, Westminster Abbey. (ODNB 25 Aug. 2023; Westminster School Archives at collections.westminster.org.uk) SR
Other Names:
- the late Lieut. Gen. J. Burgoyne