Thomas Dundas

Major General Thomas Dundas (30 June 1750 – 3 June 1794) was a British military officer, politician, and Governor of Guadeloupe. He held a seat in the British House of Commons between 1771 and 1790. Life Born the son of Thomas Dundas of Fingask, Dundas was educated at Edinburgh High School and entered the British Army in 1766, rising to Major of the 65th Foot. He was elected Member of Parliament for the Stewartry of Orkney & Shetland in 1771 retaining the seat until 1780. As Lieutenant Colonel of the 80th Foot he saw action in the American Revolutionary War, serving under Benedict Arnold in the raid against Richmond. Under Arnold and William Phillips, he was present at the capture of Williamsburg, Blandford, the attack on Osborne's, and Manchester. Then he passed under the command of Charles Cornwallis. He commanded the left wing at Green Spring. With Banastre Tarleton, he was bottled up by the Marquis de Choisy at Gloucester during the siege of Yorktown. Assigned as joint commissioner for carrying out the capitulation, he was made a prisoner of war after the fall of Yorktown. He was promoted to Colonel on 20 November 1782. After repatriation, he was appointed to the board of commission in 1782 to examine claims for compensation to those "who having remained loyal to the mother country, had suffered in their rights, properties and profession." Dundas married Lady Elizabeth Eleanora Home (d. 1837), daughter of Alexander, ninth Earl Home, on 9 January 1784. He was elected MP for Orrkney again in 1784 and sat until 1790.