Sir thomas makdougall brisbane biography of rory

​BRISBANE, Sir THOMAS MAKDOUGALL- (1773–1860), general, colonial governor, and astronomer, was the eldest son of Thomas Brisbane of that ilk, and was born at Brisbane House, Largs in Ayrshire, on 23 July 1773.

His father had served at Culloden, and died in 1812, aged 92. His mother was Eleanor, daughter of Sir W. Bruce of Stenhouse. After spending some time at Edinburgh University, where he showed his taste for mathematics and astronomy, he was sent to an academy in Kensington, was gazetted an ensign in the 38th regiment in 1789, and joined it in Ireland in 1790, where he struck up an acquaintance with Arthur Wellesley, then aide-de-camp to the lord-lieutenant, which lasted all their lives.

He was promoted lieutenant in 1792, and captain, at the age of twenty, in 1793, into the 53rd regiment, with which he served through the campaign of 1793-5 in Flanders under the Duke of York. He was wounded in the