The Isle of Man to Guadeloupe — Richard Tyldesley 1772-1794

Image reproduced courtesy of Manx National Heritage

Richard Tyldesley was born at Arbory on the Isle of Man and baptised on 18 December 1772. The eldest son of Thomas Tyldesley 1733-1783 and Catherine Quayle who had married on 20 August 1771, Richard Tyldesley is directly descended from the Lancashire Tyldesleys and is one of the last members of the original Manx branch of the family.

On 20 February 1793, Richard Tyldesley joined the Fencibles—the Royal Manx Corps of Fencible Men—with the rank of Ensign. A W Moore notes that Mrs Lucy Quayle of Castletown informed Richard's sister—Miss Elizabeth Tyldesley of the Friary, then a girl at school in England—of this development in a letter dated 21 March 1793:

"Our gay doings with Volunteers you have doubtless heard of, their uniform is a blue jacket, edg'd with scarlet, white waistcoat and trousies, a round hatt with two smart black feathers, the hatt wore to one side, could you get, a glimpse of Mr Robert Quayle and my good man in their uniform, you can't think how well they look. There are three companies of Royal Manx Fencibles rais'd by the Duke of Athol, a hundred men in each. Yr. Brother has got an ensighncy; the Lieutenant-Governor is his Captain. [FN1] This makes us a little lively here at present. . . Richard is quite the Beau among the ladies." [FN2]

Richard Tyldesley's commission was also reported in True Briton on 21 May 1793:

ROYAL MANX CORPS OF FENCIBLE MEN.

John Duke of Athol to be Lieutenant-Colonel-Commandant.

Lieutenant-Governor Alexander Shaw, or the Lieutenant-Governor for the time being, to be Major. 

To be CAPTAINS.

John Taubman, Esq.
Lord Henry Murray.

To be CAPTAIN-LIEUTENANT.

Cacot Heywoode, Esq.

To be LIEUTENANTS.

Charles Crigan, Gent.
Caesar Tobin, Gent.
Thomas Christian, Gent.
Mark Quayle, Gent.
Thomas Moore, Gent.

To be ENSIGNS.

Richard Tyldesley, Gent.

John Christian, Gent.

Alexander Murray, Gent.

To be ADJUTANT.

Thomas Moore, Gent.

To be SURGEON.

Patrick Scott, Gent.

On 19 September 1793, Richard Tyldesley transferred to the 39th Regiment of Foot [FN3]. Perhaps in anticipation of a likely posting abroad, he made a will on 3 October 1793 which is now held by the National Archives. Richard Tyldesley was subsequently sent to the Island of Guadeloupe. The London Gazette published on 6 December 1794, recorded that he had been appointed Lieutenant:

Unknown, presumably, to the War Office, Richard Tyldesley had died on 21 July 1794. A memorial to him (pictured above) was later installed at St Mary's Chapel in Castletown with the following inscription:

SACRED

to the Memory of

RICHARD TYLDESLEY Esqr

of the Friery in this Island

a Lieutenant in the 39t Regt

who died at Guadaloupe the 21st of July 1794

Aetatis 21 Years

He lived highly esteemed.

And died much lamented.

The memorial features the Arms of the Lancashire Tyldesleys—the three molehills.

At the time of his death, Richard Tyldesley was aged just 21, unmarried and with no children. He left £5 to his brother, Thomas Tyldesley, and his remaining goods and property to his sister, Margaret Tyldesley 1774-1850. This wealth passed to the Greetham family with the marriage of Margaret Tyldesley and Benjamin Greetham on 14 November 1795.

Some 4 years after Richard Tyldesley's death, his brother, Thomas Tyldesley 1776-1798 died on the return voyage from Saint Vincent. And his distant cousin Charles Tyldesley 1774-1808 was to die on the island of Marie Galante, adjoining Guadeloupe.

---

1. Lord Henry Murray 1767–1805 was the fourth son of the 3rd Duke of Atholl and served as the fourth Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man.
2. Douglas 100 Years Ago, Editor: A W Moore, Reprinted from The Manx Sun,1904.
3. The Royal Manx Fencibles, Bertram Edward Sargeaunt, 1947