Lt.-General Godfrey Bosville Macdonald, 3rd Baron Macdonald of Sleat (14 October 1775 – 13 October 1832) was a Scottish aristocrat.
Godfrey was born on 14 October 1775 in Edinburgh, Scotland.[1] He was the second of seven sons and three daughters born to the former Elizabeth Diana Bosville (1748–1789) and Sir Alexander Macdonald, 9th Baronet (–1795). In 1776, the year following his birth, his father was created Baron Macdonald in the Peerage of Ireland. His elder brother, Alexander, was MP for Saltash who held his seat in the House of Commons after succeeding to the barony in 1795 as it was an Irish peerage which did not entitle him to a seat in the House of Lords.
His father, a younger son of Lady Margaret Montgomerie (a daughter of the 9th Earl of Eglinton) and Sir Alexander Macdonald, 7th Baronet, had succeeded to the baronetcy in 1766 following the death of his elder brother, Sir James Macdonald, 8th Baronet. His mother was the eldest daughter of Godfrey Bosville IV of Gunthwaite and of Thorpe Hall, Rudston, both in Yorkshire.[2] 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.
Following the death of his elder brother Alexander Macdonald, 2nd Baron Macdonald on 19 June 1824, Godfrey succeeded to his father's titles after his brother died unmarried and without legitimate issue.[2]
On 29 December 1803, Macdonald married Louisa Maria La Coast (1781–1835). She is said to have been the illegitimate daughter of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (a son of Frederick, Prince of Wales and a younger brother of King George III) and his mistress, Lady Almeria Carpenter (a daughter of the 1st Earl of Tyrconnell), although she was baptised at Leatherhead in 1781 as the daughter of Farley Edser (a steward to the Duke of Gloucester who was a tenant of a dairy farm near Hampton Court).[4] Together, they were the parents of thirteen children, including:[2]
Three of his children with Louisa were born before their marriage, so they were considered illegitimate, while the ten children born after their marriage were considered legitimate. The eldest three were eventually legitimized by Scottish law, but not by Irish law, therefore, the Scottish baronetcy passed to his eldest son, Alexander, while the Irish barony passed to his third son, Godfrey.[8]
Lord Macdonald died on 13 October 1832 at Bridlington, in England. His widow, the dowager Lady Macdonald, died on 10 February 1835, at Bossall, Yorkshire.
Through his eldest son Alexander, he was a grandfather of Godfrey Wentworth Bayard Bosville, de jure 13th Baronet, who married Hon. Harriet Cassandra Willoughby (sister to the 8th Baron Middleton);[9] and Hon. Julia Louisa Bosville (1824–1901), who married Henry Willoughby, 8th Baron Middleton.[7]
Through his eldest daughter Louisa, Countess of Hopetoun, he is a direct ancestor of the Marquesses of Linlithgow.[7]
Through his daughter Diana, he was a grandfather of Diana Smyth, who married Henry Lascelles, 4th Earl of Harewood.[7]
Through his daughter Marianne, he was a grandfather of Henrietta Turnor, who married John Scott, 3rd Earl of Eldon.[7]
Through his youngest daughter Octavia, he was posthumously a grandfather of John Hope Johnstone, de jure 8th Earl of Annandale and Hartfell.[7]
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.
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 (Surrey) 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.
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.[2]