18th May 1815: Francis Raynes appeals to the Home Secretary for a job with the army

Crawford-Street, 18th May, 1815.

MY LORD,

His Grace the Duke of Montrose informed me by note, dated the 7th of March, that he had done me the honor to present to your Lordship a memorial, wherein I stated an abstract of services rendered by me, during the disturbances in the north of England, in the years 1812 and 13, and in which were blended both civil and military duties.

Were I not sensible of the interest his Grace feels in my behalf, as do other men of high consideration, I should be led to conclude my case hopeless or unworthy of notice, by the silence your Lordship observes, in not doing me the honor to reply to my memorial.

I did confidently hope, my Lord, on witnessing the rewards so justly bestowed on meritorious officers, at the conclusion of war, and from the testimonials of my conduct for services which were considered of much importance at the time, I should not have escaped the notice of His Majesty’s Government.

That the duty was an arduous one, is manifest from the difficulty to obtain officers to engage in it. The Generals and officers commanding regiments, can vouch for this fact.

To assure your Lordship I went further than any other officer would venture, to suppress the spirit of disaffection, I now beg leave to enclose a testimonial from the bench of Magistrates acting for the division of Stockport.

May I be permitted to submit to your Lordship, whether I might be placed in some fencible or other regiment, as a Major with temporary rank only, and thence allowed the retirement; yet buy no means being understood as wishing to stand aloof, whether my services may be required; being aware, my Lord, such modes of rewarding officers, have not been unfrequent. I presume my services in the line and militia, those in the 12th light dragoons in Egypt, as certified by Lieut.-General Sir John Doyle, to the more recent ones as Captain of the Stirlingshire militia, comprising a period of nearly twenty years, will be deemed a sufficient plea for such a proposition. I trust your Lordship will not consider me too pressing, in urging some decision on a subject which has occupied my hopes for more than two years, the more especially when my residence in town, waiting such decision, and the expense of a large family in the country, are submitted to your Lordship’s feeling consideration. I have the honor to be  [etc]

FRANCIS RAYNES,

Captain, Stirlingshire, &c. Militia.

[To] The Right Hon. Lord Viscount Sidmouth, &c.

---

This is from Raynes (1817, pp.155-157)