Henry Caldwell

Lt.-Col. Henry Caldwell, (c. 1735 – 1810) was a Canadian army and militia officer, a successful businessman and a member of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada.

The youngest son of Sir John Caldwell (d. 1744) 3rd Bt., of Castle Caldwell & Wellsborough, High Sheriff of Fermanagh; by his wife Anne (d. 1769), daughter of the Very Rev. John Trench (d. 1725) of Moate, Co. Galway; Dean of Raphoe.

Henry Caldwell fought with distinction at the capture of Louisbourg, Cape Breton, afterward promoted to captain by James Wolfe (who included him in his will) and assistant quartermaster to General Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester during the Siege of Quebec.

Caldwell retired from the British army with the rank of major in 1774, remaining in Quebec. He leased land that had belonged to Governor George Murray (British Army officer) and built Caldwell Manor. The following year he served as a Lieutenant-Colonel with the militia during the defence of Sainte-Foy and was chosen to carry the dispatches reporting the victory to London. His military service earned him the King's praise, financial reward and a seat in the Canadian parliament. In 1787 he was promoted to colonel of the Quebec Battalion of British Militia, a rank he held until June 1794. Described as 'a handsome soldier', Caldwell was supposed to be the inspiration for the character Colonel Ed Rivers in the novel The History of Emily Montague, by Frances Brooke.

Caldwell was a founder of the Agriculture Society (1791), serving as its chairman, to improve the breeding of livestock and the production of hemp in Quebec. In 1801 he purchased all the property that had belonged to Governor Murray, establishing himself as an important landowner, and he bought further considerable tracts of land throughout Quebec. From the mills he built he supplied the troops stationed in North America and bought boats, wharves and warehouses to produce, store and export his goods. In 1810 alone he sold more than 1,775,000 pounds of flour to the government for just under £22,000.

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