Charles Herries

Charles Herries, army officer, is buried in the nave of Westminster Abbey. By the door into the west cloister is a marble monument with a bust by sculptor Francis Chantrey and relief, showing a Roman soldier beside his horse addressing the City of London, by Robert Smirke. The inscription reads:

In the nave of this church are deposited the remains of Charles Herries, Esquire, Colonel of the Light Horse Volunteers of London and Westminster. Endowed by nature with those qualities which, gracing his descent from an antient and noble family, marked him for such pre-eminence, he was a chosen commander of a regiment of gentlemen, who, giving an example of voluntary service, were collected under the standard of loyalty, from the rank, talents, and property of the Empire, in defence of all that was dear and sacred to men and Britons, their King, their laws, their liberty, and their religion; when England, contending with foreign hostility, was harassed by domestick faction. The suavity of his manners tempered the strictness of his discipline; respect and love ensured obedience to his authority, his public career was distinguished by the approbation of his Sovereign, his privacy was blessed in the devotion of his family, and the attachment of his friends. Grateful for all the benefits, and cheerful in all the hopes which make either life or death happy, he resigned his ardent and active spirit on the 3rd April 1819 in the 74th year of his age. The Light Horse Volunteers, regarding him as their father, followed him to the grave with filial reverence and, as a lasting tribute of honour to his memory, have raised this record of his virtues and their affection.

He was a son of William Herries of Dryfesdale, in Dumfriesshire, Scotland and his wife Catherine (Henderson). Sir Robert Herries, the eminent London banker was his brother. He married Mary Ann Johnson and his children were John Charles, William Lewis, Isabell Maria, Catherine and Julia Mary. John Charles became an eminent politician and married Sarah Dorington and had six children.

Further reading

Sir Robert and John Charles Herries have entries in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004.