Hildebrand Oakes

Sir

Hildebrand Oakes
Sir; Hildebrand Oakes
	Sir Hildebrand Oakes
Born	19 January 1754; Exeter, Devon
Died	9 September 1822 (aged 68); London
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1767–1822
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands	Malta garrison
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War; Egyptian Campaign
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Lieutenant-General Sir Hildebrand Oakes, 1st Baronet, GCB (19 January 1754 – 9 September 1822) was a British Army officer.

Military career

Oakes was commissioned into the 33rd Regiment of Foot in 1767 and served in the American War of Independence under Lord Cornwallis.^[1] He became deputy quartermaster-general in Corsica in May 1794, quartermaster-general in the Mediterranean in June 1794 and quartermaster-general in Portugal in December 1796.^[1] He served in the Egyptian Campaign in 1800 as second-in-command under Sir John Moore.^[1] He went on to be brigadier-general at Malta in October 1802, Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth and General Officer Commanding South-West District in November 1804^[2] and a commissioner of military inquiry in June 1805.^[1] After that he became quartermaster-general in the Mediterranean in July 1806, commander of the Malta garrison in March 1808 and Civil Commissioner of Malta in May 1810.^[1]

In his final months as Civil Commissioner of Malta, Oakes was responsible for dealing with a plague epidemic that devastated the islands. Prior to the outbreak of the disease, Oakes had already expressed his wish to resign the post on the grounds of his own poor health. He took measures to contain the epidemic, and by the time he left office on 5 October 1813 the epidemic had begun to subside. He was the last person to hold the office of Civil Commissioner, since his successor Thomas Maitland was given the title of Governor of Malta (a post which had been offered to Oakes but which he had declined).^[3]

He was appointed Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance in January 1814 and died in office in that post.^[1]

Oakes was also colonel of the 52nd Regiment of Foot.^[4]

Family

On 18 June 1818, Oakes' daughter Antonia married Edward Wildman (1789-1846), the younger brother of Colonel Thomas Wildman.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
^ "No. 15752". The London Gazette. 6 November 1804. p. 1367.
^ Grech, Chris (27 October 2013). "Sir Hildebrand Oakes' resignation as Governor of Malta in 1813". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 14 March 2020.
^ Debrett's Baronetage of England
^ Dalton, Charles (1904). The Waterloo roll call. With biographical notes and anecdotes. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. p. 67.

Political offices
Preceded by Sir Alexander Ball	Civil Commissioner of Malta 1810–1813	Succeeded by Sir Thomas Maitland (Governor)
Military offices
Preceded by John Whitelocke	GOC South-West District 1804–1805	Succeeded by John Hope
Preceded by Sir John Moore	Colonel of the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot 1809–1822	Succeeded by Sir George Walker
Preceded by Sir Thomas Trigge	Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance 1814–1822	Succeeded by The Lord Beresford
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baronet (of the Army) 1813–1822	Extinct
New creation	Baronet (of Hereford) 1815–1822	Succeeded by Sir Henry Oakes
Preceded by Hislop baronets	Oakes baronets of the Army 2 November 1813	Succeeded by Puleston baronets