Cornish Worthies: Sketches of Some Eminent Cornish Men and Families, Volume 2 (of 2)Tregellas, Walter H. (Walter Hawken)
History
Cornish Worthies: Sketches of Some Eminent Cornish Men and Families, Volume 2 (of 2)
Tregellas, Walter H. (Walter Hawken)
Cornwall (England : County) -- Biography
But the reception accorded to 'the Warrior of the West' by his native
town, after the battle of Waterloo, should not pass unnoticed. Towards
the latter part of July (the 27th was, I believe, the day) Vivian
returned home for a short time; and when it was known that he was
approaching Truro, which was _en fête_ on the occasion, numbers of the
inhabitants went out to meet him, and, taking the horses out of his
carriage, dragged it in triumph through the streets. Several of the
townsfolk had assembled at Mr. Vivian's house, to greet the victorious
hero on his return. Amongst them was the writer's mother--then quite a
young girl--whom the tall, strong man lifted up in his arms as if she
had been an infant, and embracing her, exclaimed to those around him,
'There! believe me, that's the first kiss I've had since the battle of
Waterloo!' His speech to the populace on this occasion could not be
reported, for the air was rent by their shouts; and I should judge,
from the contemporary accounts, that a similar enthusiasm prevailed on
the occasion of the public dinner which was given to him at the Truro
Assembly Rooms on the 31st July.
The army returned to England in 1818; and with it Vivian, who now
found himself, for the first time in twenty-three years, unemployed.
Great reductions in the military establishments, of course, took
place; and on the 10th September, 1821, the 18th Hussars was, amongst
other regiments, disbanded. On this occasion he was presented by the
_soldiers_ with a silver trumpet purchased out of the proceeds of the
sale of horses which had been captured by the regiment during the
Peninsular campaign.
It seems hardly necessary to dwell upon the facts of his having been
despatched in 1819 to Newcastle-on-Tyne, and thence to Glasgow, for
the purpose of quelling riots which had broken out at those places; it
will suffice to mention that the service was promptly and efficiently
performed.
The University of Oxford in the following year accorded to him the high
honour of the degree of D.C.L., which, however, for some reason, he
does not seem to have taken until fourteen years afterwards. In 1820 he
was elected a Member of Parliament for his native town, and represented
it for five or six years.
In 1827 he received a Colonelcy of the Life Guards; and in the
following year he was created a baronet--a coat of arms full of
heraldic allusions to his distinguished career being at the same time
granted to him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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