George Don

General Sir George Don (30 April 1756 – 17 January 1832) was a British Army officer who served in the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. His service was conducted across Europe, but his most important work was in military and defensive organisation against the threat of French invasion during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Don was also frequently requested for advisory and espionage work by British generals and was once employed by the Prussian State as a spy. In 1799 he was arrested during a truce by Guillaume Brune who accused him of attempting to foment rebellion in the Batavian Republic and was not released until the Peace of Amiens. During and following the wars, Don also served as Lieutenant Governor of Jersey and Governor Gibraltar, implementing organizational reforms with much success in both places.

Early career Don was born in 1756, the second son of wine merchant John Don and his wife Anna Seton. In 1770, Don joined the army as an ensign in the 51st Regiment of Foot and was stationed in Menorca from 1774 after being made Lieutenant. Menorca was, at the time, a British-administered territory and naval base, and was heavily fortified after its capture by the Spanish and recapture in the Seven Years' War twenty years earlier. During his service on the island, Don became close acquaintances with the island's governor General Johnstone and General James Murray and served on the staff of the former as aide-de-camp and was consequently promoted to captain.

During the American Revolutionary War, Menorca came under attack by Spanish and French forces and Don was an important figure in the seven-month siege of the British garrison in Fort St. Philip. Despite the enforced surrender of the garrison in 1782, his reputation was enhanced and he gained further status when he married Murray's niece, Maria Margaretta, in 1783. Promoted major the same year, Don transferred to the 59th Regiment of Foot for his first posting in Gibraltar where he served on peacetime duty until 1791.

In 1805 Don's colonelcy was transferred to the 96th Regiment of Foot. In 1806 he was made Lieutenant Governor of Jersey, a post he maintained for the entire duration of the Napoleonic Wars. In Jersey, he built roads and defences, organised local militia and built up a strong relationship with the local community. The MV Cape Don is in turn named after the lighthouse.