Early Life
Robert Kelso was born in 1761, the second son of
Captain John Kelso of
Dankeith and his wife,
Margaret Mowat (the daughter of
William Mowat of
Colpnay).
Career
Robert commenced his military career in the
69th Regiment of Foot on the 10
th of May 1780 in the West Indies and America. His regiment was put on board Lord Rodney's fleet to do duty as Marines and during that service he was present at the
capture of St Eustatia the 3
rd of February 1781; the
naval action under Admiral Graves off the Chesapeake; and in
those under Lord Rodney on the 9th and 12th of April 1782.
He obtained a Lieutenancy in the same corps in 1782 and was reduced on half pay at the peace of 1783. He paid the difference between that and full pay in 1787 and was appointed to the 22
nd foot. He served in Great Britain and Ireland till November 1793.
In 1794 he was present as Lieutenant of grenadiers at the capture of Martinique, Guadaloupe and St Lucia. He went from there to St Domingo and returned to Europe on leave of absence for the recovery of his health in August 1795. The 28
th of September 1794 he succeeded to a company: he was ordered on the Recruiting service in 1796; and went to Guernsey in 1799.
The 9
th of August in the latter year he was appointed a Major. He embarked for the Cape of Good Hope with his corps in January 1800; then proceeded with it to India in December 1802. He returned to Europe on leave of absence in April 1807 and rejoined in the East Indies in 1808. The 8
th of June 1809 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in the 22
nd foot and obtained leave of absence to remain at Calcutta till February 1810 when the 22
nd regiment formed part of the army destined for the
capture of Île de France (now Mauritius); and he had the honour of being appointed to command the Bengal division from Calcutta to Mauritius that joined Sir John Abercromby's army on the island. Upon his arrival he was nominated to the command of a brigade and the Commander in Chief in his public despatch expressed his entire satisfaction of his conduct.
On the 4
th of June 1813 he obtained the brevet of Colonel of Major General the 12
th of August 1819 and the 20
th of November following was appointed Colonel of the 6
th Royal Veteran Battalion
Family Life
Robert married
Marianne Susan Burtsal, daughter of
Nelson Burtsal (a Suffolk farmer of
Bungay), on the 12
th October 1797 at
Holy Trinity in Bungay.
From reader email, 2nd October 2021:
He met Marianne Burtsal, I think, because he was recruiting in Suffolk in 1796. The 22nd Foot had come back from the West Indies devastated by disease and it was so under strength that it was decided to make it one of the three Boy Regiments that were being formed at the time by mopping up all the 15- and 16-year-old boys that the parish authorities wanted to get rid of. One of the boys thus swept up was John Shipp of Saxmundham (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shipp_(British_Army_officer)), whose memoirs are interesting about the movements of the regiment during the period up to their arrival in India, although he doesn’t put in a single date for anything. The 22nd was based at Colchester in 1796, but if they went to Saxmundham, in due course they would have gone to Bungay as well, and one presumes Marianne caught Robert’s eye.
In between bouts of soldiering, Robert found time to have three children with Marianne:
- Margaret Augusta, born on the 2nd of July 1802 in the Cape of Good Hope whilst her father was stationed there. She travelled with him and her mother to India and was subsequently baptised in Calcutta in March 1803. It looks like Marianne decided to keep the family in England from now on as both Edward and Louisa (her next children) were born there, even though Robert continued to travel around the world. Margaret married the Rev. Courtenay Boyle Brice, a local vicar
- Edward John Francis, born 1809 in Bungay, Suffolk, heir and continuator of the Kelso line through his wife Frances Purvis
- Louisa Marianne Susan Frances, born 1810 and who married the Rev. William Colville
Death
Robert Kelso died in Bungay on the 13
th October 1823 aged 62, and was buried four days later at
Holy Trinity. See below for an image of the memorial stone to him in the church.
Footnotes
[1] For Robert's military career, see:
The Royal Military Calendar, or Army Service and Commission Book, 3rd Edition, (publ. London 1820 by AJ Valpy), Volume IV, Page 22
Abt 1761 - 1823 (~ 62 years)
[2, 3] 
