Sir William Houston, 1st Baronet

General Sir William Houston, 1st Baronet, (10 August 1766 – 8 April 1842) was a British Army officer and Governor of Gibraltar. Houston joined the army in 1781, and by the start of the French Revolutionary War was a captain. He fought in the Flanders campaign before being promoted to major in 1794. As a lieutenant-colonel he fought at the Capture of Minorca and at the sieges of Alexandria and Cairo. Promoted to colonel in 1802, Houston fought in the Walcheren Expedition of 1809 before being promoted to major-general.

Houston initially commanded a brigade in the Peninsular War before becoming the first commander of 7th Division in 1811. He left his command later in the year because of illness, having commanded it at the battles of Sabugal and Fuentes de Oñoro and the siege of Badajoz. Houston saw no more active service in the Napoleonic Wars, with a series of staff positions culminating in him serving as acting Governor of Gibraltar in 1832. He died in 1842.

Military career Early service William Houston was born on 10 August 1766, the only child of Andrew Houston of Calderhaugh (Calderhall, or Calder Hall), Kirknewton, West Lothian, Scotland. He was promoted to lieutenant on 2 April 1782, and joined an unnumbered regiment raised as a temporary unit; he was promoted to captain within this unit on 13 March 1783. Upon the end of the American Revolutionary War, it was disbanded. Here, Houston was promoted to major on 30 May 1794, and was given command of the 19th in the campaign. Later on, he commanded a brigade at the sieges of Alexandria and Cairo, for which he received the Turkish Order of the Crescent, second class (KC). When his health improved again he requested to Wellington that he be given another command in his army but he was declined on the grounds that there were no open commands for him to take up. Houston was promoted to lieutenant general on 4 June 1814 and as a part of the victory celebrations of 1815 he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. He was further rewarded when he became a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order in 1827.

His next active role came when on 8 April 1831 he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Gibraltar, a post he held until 28 February 1835. After his term at Gibraltar ended he was created a baronet on 19 July 1836 and was promoted to general on 10 January 1837. He died at his home in Bromley Hill, Bromley, Kent on 8 April 1842 and was interred in the catacombs at West Norwood Cemetery. Lady Jane died on 1 June 1833.