William Tomkinson
{{Short description|British Army officer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
Lieutenant Colonel William Tomkinson (18{{nbsp}}January 1790 – 1872) was a British Army officer who served during the Peninsular War and the Waterloo campaign.
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = Lieutenant colonel
| image = William Tomkinson.jpg
| caption = Portrait of Tomkinson from The Diary of a Cavalry Officer in the Peninsular War and Waterloo Campaign.
| birth_date = 18 January 1790
| death_date = 1872
| spouse = Susan Tarleton (m. 1836)
| children = 6. including James Tomkinson
}}
Early life
Career
Tomkinson was gazetted to the 16th Light Dragoons as a cornet in December 1807, joining his regiment the following April.{{sfn|Tomkinson|1894|page=vi-vii}} During the Peninsular War (1809-1813) he was seriously wounded at the crossing of the Douro on 11{{nbsp}}May 1809 but recovered to see action at the battles of Busaco (1810), Redhina (1811), Fuentes de Oñoro (1811), El Bodón (1811), Salamanca (1812) and Vittoria (1813).{{sfn|Bromley|Bromley|2015|page=361}}The Diary of a Cavalry Officer in the Peninsular War and Waterloo Campaign
He was subsequently at Waterloo{{sfn|Dalton|1904|page=86}} and remained in France with the Army of Occupation until December 1815.{{sfn|Bromley|Bromley|2015|page=361}}File:William Tomkinson-Waterloo-16th-Queens-Regiment-Light-Dragoons-Officers-Sabre.jpg of then Captain William Tomkinson, inscribed with his initials WT.]]
=Retirement=
Tomkinson retired on half-pay in 1821 and bought the land for Willington Hall, Cheshire, on the former estate of Lord Alvanley in 1827.{{cite web|title=Willington Hall: History archived page|url=https://willingtonhall.co.uk/about-us/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802085849/https://willingtonhall.co.uk/about-us/ |access-date=17 January 2023|archive-date=2 August 2019 }} In retirement he became a magistrate and huntsman.{{sfn|Tomkinson|1894|page=vii}}
Family
In 1836 he married Susan, daughter of Thomas Tarleton of Bolesworth Castle, Cheshire. The couple had four sons and two daughters including James Tomkinson who became an M.P. and Henry, who joined the army and went on to command the 1st Royal Dragoons.{{sfn|Tomkinson|1894|page=vi}}{{sfn|Ormerod|1882|page=481}}
References
{{Reflist}}
;
- {{cite book|first1=Janet|last1=Bromley|first2=David|last2=Bromley|title=Wellington's Men Remembered Volume 2: A Register of Memorials to Soldiers who Fought in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo- Volume II: M to Z|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5IOuCAAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-4738-5768-1}}
- {{cite book |last=Dalton |first=Charles |year=1904 |title=The Waterloo roll call. With biographical notes and anecdotes |location=London |publisher= Eyre and Spottiswoode |url=https://archive.org/details/waterloorollcall00daltuoft/page/86}}
- {{cite book|first=William|last=Tomkinson|editor-last=Tomkinson|editor-first=James|title=The Diary of a Cavalry Officer in the Peninsular and Waterloo Campaign, 1809-1815|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924024323663|year=1894|publisher=S. Sonnenschein & Company}}
- {{cite book|last=Ormerod|first=G.|editor-last=Helsby|editor-first=T.|title=The history of the county Palatine and city of Chester vol 3, Wettenhall of Hankelow second line|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924088434059?urlappend=%3Bseq=521|year=1882|publisher=G. Routledge|hdl=2027/coo.31924088434059?urlappend=%3Bseq=517}}
- {{cite book|last=Graham|first=Henry|title=History of the Sixteenth, the Queen's, light dragoons (lancers), 1759 to 1912|url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015024495387|year=1912|location=Devizes|publisher=G. Simpson, printer|hdl=2027/mdp.39015024495387}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomkinson, William}}
Category:16th The Queen's Lancers officers
Category:British Army personnel of the Peninsular War
Category:British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars