Henry Dumaresq

Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Dumaresq (1792-1838) was a military officer of the era of the Napoleonic Wars, colonial government official, and early colonial settler of New South Wales. He was associated with the Upper Hunter Valley and Port Stephens, and was one of the first to take up land around Armidale. Early life and military service Dumaresq was the son of John Dumaresq, a Shropshire colonel, and Anne Jones. He attended the Royal Military College, Great Marlow, and became a military officer. The Dumaresq family has strong connections with the Channel Islands, particularly Jersey. Henry joined the 9th Regiment. He served in the Peninsula War—he was wounded at Villa Muriel—and at New Orleans in the War of 1812, and then at the Battle of Waterloo, during which—while a Captain on the staff of Lieutenant General John Byng as aide-de-camp—he was severely wounded at Hougoumont. Although wounded and not revealing that wound, he rode across the battlefield to deliver a vital message, on the morale and ammunition supply of the Hougoumont garrison, to the Duke of Wellington. He then collapsed, fell from his horse, and was placed in the care of the Duke's personal surgeon. He was promoted to Brevet Major for his actions at Waterloo and, two years later, was made a Lieutenant Colonel. Unusually for the time, Dumaresq earned his promotions, through zeal and courage, without need of purchasing his commissions. A musket ball remained lodged in his lungs for the rest of his life. New South Wales He was the brother-in-law of Ralph Darling. When Darling was appointed Governor of New South Wales, in 1824, Dumaresq was already serving as Darling's Military Secretary in Mauritius.