Sir Frederick Haldimand

Sir Frederick Haldimand, Knight of the Bath, is not buried in Westminster Abbey but his stall plate can be seen in Henry VII's chapel, the chapel of this Order of knighthood. This is on the south range of stalls and is one of the older enamelled plates, a little obscured by varnish. This shows his coat of arms "azure, a chevron erminois between three mullets [stars] pierced argent" with two natives of the region of Quebec as his supporters. The inscription on the plate is in French and gives the various posts he held and says that he was installed on 19th May 1788. His nephew Anthony Frederick Haldimand (who later became a banker) was Sir Frederick's Esquire, or page, at the installation.

Sir Frederick was born in Switzerland, a child of Francois Louis Haldimand and his wife Marie Madeleine. He joined the Prussian army and served in the Swiss guard. Transferring to the British Army he was Lt. Colonel of the Royal Americans battalion and rose through the ranks, despite being a "foreigner". In 1772 he was Major General and Brigadier Gage made him acting commander in chief in America while he went to London. In 1778 he took up his position as governor of Quebec. On returning to London George III appointed him to the Order of the Bath. Frederick died in Switzerland in 1791. He was unmarried. He had another nephew called William, who became a philanthropist.

Further reading for Frederick and William

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004