Robert Houstoun

Robert Houstoun of Clerkington, Scotland, and of the East India Company. Inherited Belmont estate in Grenada and claimed in a Chancery case for three other estates in Grenada as surviving trustee and executor of his brother the Hon. Andrew Houstoun (q.v.). Described in the compensation records as 'of Clerkington in Co of Haddington' and 'a Colonel in the service of the East India Company'. He joined the EIC army in 1795 and served in the 4th Bengal European Cavalry. During his time in India he fought in at least 12 battles and 9 sieges, including the 2nd Anglo-Maratha War. Towards the end of his career he served as Governor of the Military College, Addiscombe, where EIC officers trained. He retired in 1854.

1. 'Robert Alexander Houston' of Clerkington reportedly bought the Belmont estate on Grenada c. 1780 and it remained in the family's ownership until 1944. This appears to refer to Alexander Houstoun (q.v.): Robert Alexander Houstoun was a 19th century descendant who died in 1879.

2. Robert Houstoun was born 02/12/1780 in Jordanhill, Renfrewshire, fifth son of Andrew Houstoun of Jordanhill, a banker and West India merchant, and his wife Margaret Wallace. He married Frances Folliot or Follot and they had 6 children, all baptised in Bengal, India: Rachel Welland (1803), William (1803), Frances Elizabeth (1805), Frances Elizabeth (1809), Robert (1810) and Wallace (1811). Another son, William Adam Houstoun, son of Lieut.-Col. Robert Houstoun and his wife Frances, was born 04/05/1823 and baptised 01/07/1823 at Marylebone, London. A further son, Alexander Houston, was born c. 1806 and became Colonel of the 34th Regiment of Foot and 4th Light Dragoons.

3. Maj. Gen. Robert Houston of the East India Company was made a Knight's Commander of the Order of Bath (KCB), 10/03/1838.

4. "The Confirmation under Seal of the Commissariot of Haddington dated 19 August 1862 of Frances Houstoun (wife of the deceased), Wallace Houstoun, Captain in the Royal Navy (the Son of the Deceased) John Dundas and William Wilson Clerks to the Signet Edinburgh and Thomas Todrick Writer in Haddington as Executors Nominate of the late Sir Robert Houstoun of Clerkington Knight Commander of the Bath who died at Torquay in the County of Devon 5 April 1862 was sealed at the Principal Registry London."

T71/880 Grenada claim nos. 564 (Diamond), 702 (Belmont) and 703 (Tivoli and St. John's). T71/1229 counterclaims; Families in British India Society database http://search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/; C.E. Buckland, Dictionary of Indian Biography (London, 1906), p. 208.

1. http://www.belmontestate.net/grenada-history.htm [accessed 19/06/2011]; National Probate Calendar 1879.

2. General Register Office for Scotland, OPR Births 575 020 162. www.familysearch.org batch nos. C75002-2 and C75002-4. Years in brackets relate to the birth of each child, as given in the baptism records. There are probably errors in these records: William's birth is likely to be after 1805 as this was when Rachel Welland and Frances Elizabeth were baptised, and William was not baptised until 1810. The second Frances Elizabeth was baptised in 1810 with William, and her birth year may also be recorded or transcribed wrongly. Ancestry.com, London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906 [database online]. For photographs of the grave of Alexander Houston see http://scottishwargraves.phpbbweb.com/scottishwargraves-ftopic1222-60.html [accessed 01/08/2012].

3. Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register, Vol. 22 p. 298 (April 1837).

4. National Probate Calendar 1862.

We are grateful to Lisa de Garston and Peter Schofield for their assistance in compiling this entry.