George Haldane

Who was George Haldane?

George Haldane was born in 1722 to the Clan Haldane. He joined the British Military at the age of 17 and quickly rose to the rank of Brigadier General after leading a series of successful military campaigns as a junior officer. He also served as Governor of Jamaica from 1756 until his death in 1759 at the age of 37.

Brig.-Gen. George Haldane fought in the Battle of Fontenoy in 1743, where he was wounded. He fought in the Battle of Dettingen in 1743 and he also fought in the 1745 Uprising against the Jacobites. He gained the rank of Brigadier-General in the service of the 3rd Guards, and fought in the Battle of Leffelt in 1747. His final service was in the Battle of Roucoux in 1747. After resigning his military command, Haldane held the office of Member of Parliament for Stirling Burghs between 1747 and 1756.

In 1756 at the age of 34 he was appointed to the office of Governor of Jamaica. On his death in 1759 he was eulogized in poem, An Ode to George Haldane, by Francis Williams, who went on to become one of Jamaica’s most famous early writers and scholars.

In 1759, Fort Haldane was named in his honour and a Statue erected in Port Maria, Jamaica.