Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Brotherton, Thomas William
BROTHERTON, Sir THOMAS WILLIAM (1785–1868), general, entered the 2nd or Coldstream guards as ensign in 1800, was promoted lieutenant and captain in 1801, and transferred to the 3rd or Scots fusilier guards in 1803. With the guards he served under Abercromby in Egypt in 1801, and in Hanover under Lord Cathcart in 1805. On 4 June 1807 he exchanged into the 14th light dragoons. With it he served almost continuously in the Peninsula from 1808 to 1814. He was in Sir John Moore's retreat to Corunna; he was present at Talavera. at the actions on the Coa, at Busaco, Fuentes d'Onor, Salamanca, where he was wounded, Vittoria, the Pyrenees, the Nivelle, and the Nive, where he was severely wounded and taken prisoner. Wellington speaks of Brotherton's employment in the Estrella (Despatches, iv. 614), of his valuable reports (v. 79), his conduct at the Coa (v. 293), and the duke managed his exchange after the battle of the Nive (vii. 237). He was made major by brevet on Wellington's special recommendation on 28 Nov. 1811, promoted major in his regiment 26 May 1812, lieutenant-colonel by brevet and C.B. in 1814. In 1817 he became lieutenant-colonel of the 16th lancers, and held his command for fourteen years; in 1830 he was made aide-de-camp to the king and colonel, in 1841 major-general, in 1844 inspector-general of cavalry, in 1849 colonel of the 15th hussars, in 1850 lieutenant-general, and in 1855 K.C.B. In 1859 he became colonel of the 1st dragoon guards, in 1860 a general, and in 1861 G.C.B. In 1865, at the age of eighty, he was married to his second wife, the daughter of the Rev. Walter Hare, and died on 20 Jan. 1868, at the age of eighty-three, at his son's house near Esher.
[Royal Military Calendar; Wellington Despatches; Gent. Mag. March 1868.]
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.38
N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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