Havilland Le Mesurier

Commissary-General Havilland Le Mesurier (1758-1806) was a British merchant and commissary officer who also published on military matters.^[1]

He was born on 8 May 1758 in Guernsey. His parents were John Le Mesurier (1717-1793), hereditary Governor of Alderney, and his wife Martha (d.1764). He attended Winchester School from 1770-71, before joining the business of his father and eldest brother. They ran a merchant house that profited from privateering in the American War of Independence. In 1782 he married Elizabeth Dobrée of Guernsey (died 1804). ^[1]

After war broke out with France in 1793, and with his business suffering as a result, Le Mesurier took a commission in the army sent to assist the Dutch. He was promoted swiftly to deputy commissary-general, winning praise for his hard work during the winter of 1794-5. After he returned from the continent, he set up anew as a merchant with another brother. ^[1]

In 1797 he was appointed commissary-general of southern England, in response to the threat of invasion. He resigned in 1800, when the post of commissary-general of all England went to Brook Watson, with whom he had worked during the Dutch campaign ^[2] but whom he did not respect. ^[1] In 1801, with a new government in place, Le Mesurier was appointed as commissary-general to the army preparing to return from Egypt, and also saw service in Naples and Malta. ^[1]

He died on 5 March 1806, leaving a widow and five children. ^[1] His eldest ^[3] son was also a military officer, Colonel Havilland Le Mesurier. ^[4]

Works

• A System for the British Commissariat on Foreign Service (1796)
• The British Commissary (1798)
• Thoughts on a French Invasion (1798)
• Two Letters to the Commissioners of Army Accounts (1806)

References