History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Vol. 1: Compiled from the Original RecordsDuncan, Francis
History
History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Vol. 1: Compiled from the Original Records
Duncan, Francis
Great Britain. Army. Royal Regiment of Artillery
'Grose's List,' on the other hand, makes the Duke of Argyle's tenure of
office expire in 1730, instead of 1740, and makes no allusion to his
brief resumption of the appointment in 1742, and 'Kane's List' has
followed this. It is possible that for the brief period that he was in
office the second time, no letters patent were issued for his
appointment, which would account for its omission in most lists; but the
difference of ten years in the duration of the first appointment is more
difficult to account for. There is no doubt that, in 1740, the Duke of
Argyle resigned all his appointments for the first time, but it is not
stated whether the Master-Generalship was one, although it has been
assumed. On the other hand, he might have been away during these ten
years to a great extent, or allowed his officers of the Ordnance to sign
warrants, thus giving an impression to the casual student that he no
longer held office. The manuscript in the Royal Artillery Library,
already referred to, bears marks of such careful research, that one is
disposed to adopt its reading of the difficulty, which is different from
that taken by Grose's and Kane's Lists, and agrees with the other works
mentioned above.
After the death of the Duke of Montague, the office remained vacant
until the end of 1755, when it was conferred upon
CHARLES, DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH, who held it until his death, on 20th
October, 1758.
During the vacancy immediately preceding the appointment of the last-
named Master-General, Sir J. Ligonier had been appointed Lieutenant-
General of the Ordnance, and for four years had performed the duties of
both appointments,—acted as Colonel of the Royal Artillery, and Captain
of the Cadet Company. A few months after the death of the Duke of
Marlborough—namely, on the 3rd July, 1759—he was appointed Master-
General, being by this time
FIELD-MARSHAL VISCOUNT LIGONIER. He was succeeded, on the 14th May,
1763, by
JOHN, MARQUIS GRANBY, who held it until 17th January, 1770, when we find
that he resigned all his appointments, except the command of the Blues.
For nearly two years the office remained vacant, and on the 1st October,
1772, it was conferred upon
GEORGE, VISCOUNT TOWNSHEND, whose tenure of office extended over nearly
the whole of that anxious period in the history of England which
included such episodes as the American War of Independence and the great
Siege of Gibraltar. The sequence of the remaining Masters may be taken
from Kane's List, and is as follows:—
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