Godfrey Macdonald, 3rd Baron Macdonald of Sleat


Lt.-General Godfrey Bosville Macdonald, 3rd Baron Macdonald of Sleat was the second son of Alexander Macdonald, 1st Baron Macdonald and Elizabeth Diana Bosville. He succeeded his elder brother Alexander Macdonald, 2nd Baron Macdonald, in the barony on 19 June 1824, after the former died unmarried and without legitimate issue.

Education

He was educated at Harrow School, Harrow on the Hill, London, England. He matriculated Oriel College, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, on 17 December 1792.

Career

He gained the rank of Ensign, in 1794, serving in the Loyal Kelso Regiment and the King's Royal Rifle Corps. He then gained the rank of Captain, in 1796, serving in the 86th Regiment of Foot and the rank of Lieutenant, that same year, while serving with the 70th Regiment of Foot. He then gained the ranks of Major, in the service of the 55th Regiment of Foot, and Lieutenant-Colonel, in the service of the South Wales Borderers. He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1808 in the service of the Grenadier Guards. He gained the ranks of Brevet Colonel, in 1811, the rank of Major-General, in 1814, and of Lieutenant-General, in 1830.
He fought in the expedition to Ostend in 1798 and then in the British West Indies from 1801 to 1802. He fought in the recapture of the Cape of Good Hope between 1805 and 1806, under Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet. He fought in the Peninsular War in 1812.

Marriage and issue

On 29 December 1803 in Norwich, Norfolk, England, he married Louisa Maria La Coast, said to have been the illegitimate daughter of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh and Lady Almeria Carpenter, a daughter of George Carpenter, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, but baptised at Leatherhead in 1781 as the daughter of Farley Edser. They had three children born before their marriage and ten children born after their marriage.
He was the heir of his uncle William Bosville who died unmarried in 1813, having left him nearly the whole of his fortune and estates, including Gunthwaite in Yorkshire. In accordance with the terms of the bequest, by royal licence on 11 April 1814 he changed his surname to Bosville and later on 20 July 1824 to Bosville-Macdonald.