William Tomkinson

Lieutenant Colonel William Tomkinson (18 January 1790 – 1872) was a British Army officer who served during the Peninsular War and the Waterloo campaign.

The fourth son of Henry Tomkinson of Dorfold, Cheshire, his mother was Anne, daughter of John Darlington of Aston, Chester.

[2] Tomkinson was gazetted to the 16th Light Dragoons as a cornet in December 1807, joining his regiment the following April.

[3] During the Peninsular War (1809-1813) he was seriously wounded at the crossing of the Douro on 11 May 1809 but recovered to see action at the battles of Busaco (1810), Redhina (1811), Fuentes de Oñoro (1811), El Bodón (1811), Salamanca (1812) and Vittoria (1813).

[4] Tomkinson retired on half-pay in 1821 and bought the land for Willington Hall, Cheshire, on the former estate of Lord Alvanley in 1827.

William Tomkinson in an image from The Diary of a Cavalry Officer in the Peninsular War and Waterloo Campaign [ 1 ]
The battle damaged sabre of then Captain William Tomkinson, inscribed with his initials WT.