Sir Peter Halkett

SIR PETER HALKET, of Pitfirrane, 2nd Baronet of Gosford, the eldest son of Sir Peter Halkett, was born 21 Jun 1695 and succeeded his father in 1746 as the 1st Baronet of Pitfirrane. He was Provost from 1752-1755. M.P. for Dunfermline in 1734 and for Inverkeithing in 1739. but made the army his career: Sir Peter was killed on 9th July 1755 in the French-Indian War at age 50.

The younger Sir Peter was a man of great honour and merit. He was a Member of Parliament for the burgh of Dunfermline, in 1734 and for Inverkeithing in 1739 but made the army his career and was a distinguished military officer. Sir Peter was Provost of the City of Dunfermline (1752-1755) - one of ten Halkets of Pitfirrane to serve as Provost.

His military career is as follows; Major, Scots Fusileers 1739, Lt. Colonel 1741, of Houghton’s Regiment and then of Lee’s Regiment, at the Battle of Gladsmuir (1745), where Sir John Cope was defeated in 1745. In 1751 he became a Colonel I that Regiment. Earlier in his career he was captured by he Chevalier's forces at Prestonpans (1745), and with other offers given parole on assurance tht the officer would not engage further against the Highland forces. It is said that the Duke of Cumberland ordered them to disregard their parole on pain of loosing their commissions. Sir Peter Halkett is recorded as having refused to do so saying, on behalf of five of his fellow officers, tht Cumberland might be the master of their commissions, but not of their probity and honour. The Government subsequently upheld the officers.

Colonel Sir Peter sailed from Cork in January 1754 and arrived at Alexandria, Virginia (in the Colonies) in command of the British 44th - Foot Regiment under he command of Major General Edward Braddock. Sir Peter acquitted himself there with bravery and good conduct. He was second-in-command, along with George Washington, in a picked column of General Braddock's forces fighting the French and the Indian War (750-1760) in North America. During the ill-fated expedition Sir Peter, in command of the 44th Foot Regiment, was killed on July 9 1755, along with his youngest son James, a lieutenant in the same regiment and a youth of noble spirit. The sad event happened in a French-Indian attack against the British forces along the Monongahela Rive near Fort Duquesne. Braddock was also mortally wounded in the skirmish. Sir Peter's son Capt Francis Halkett, and George Washington survived the ambush.

Young George Washington was one of the principal actors in the dramatic struggle for Fort Dequesne. In 1773 as a young 21 year-old Major Washington had unsuccessfully attempted to have the French "peacefully" relinquish the Fort to the British. In 1755 Lt Colonel Washington was on General Braddock's staff, as the Captain Francis Halkett, in the campaign to capture Fort Dequesne. Both escaped the massacre. Later George Washington became the first president of the United Sates.

In 1758 Sir Peter's son Francis, then a Major and Aide de Camp to General Forbes, participated in the British expedition that captured Fort Duquesne. It was renamed Fort Pitt after then British Prime Minister William Pitt. The fort gave he name to the town that spring up around it - Pittsburgh.

Afterwards in November of 1758, Major Francis, with the help of an Indian guide, located the skeletons of his father and brother on the battlefield of the 1755 massacre. He buried their remains, along with those of all other soldiers slain on the battlefield. After the burials an appropriate military funeral ceremony was conducted.

Sir Peter had married before 15th February 1738, Lady Amelia Stewart, 2nd daughter of Francis, 3rd son of Charles 7th Earl of Moray and Jean Elphinstone, 2nd daughter of John Elphinstone, the 4th Lord Elphinstone. Lady Amelia's date of death is unknown but her remains are interred in the family's Middle Crypt in the Nave of Dunfermline Abbey. By their marriage they had three sons, and four daughters -

1) Peter Halkett who succeeded his Father as 2nd Baronet, died 1779 d.s.p.

2) Francis, a Captain in Halkett’s Foot in 1751, and later a Major in the Black Watch, and in November 1758, then a Major and Aide de Camp to General Forbes, expedition that captured Fort Dequesne, he located the skeletons of his father and brother, on the battlefield of the 1755 massacre, and participated in their burial with an appropriate military funeral. Pennsylvania artist Robert Griffith immortalized the depiction of Major Francis's discovery of his father and brother's remains in his painting - "The Reunion." Francis Halkett, was designated “of Pitfirrane” after his father’s death, and served as Provost of Dunfermline (1758-1759). After his Father's death he was designated "of Pitfirrane" and was unofficially recognized as the Halkett of Pitfirrane, due to his brother's `infirmity of mind`. He was a friend and correspondent of George Washington. He died unmarried in Naples in November 1760.

3) James, youngest son was killed with his Father at Fort Duquesne July 1755.

1) Jean Halkett, b. 6 Oct 1732, probably died young.

2) Janet Halkett, b. 14 Aug 1735.

3) Jean Halkett, b. 29 Jul 1742.

4) Emilia Halkett, b. 20 Jan 1744.

b. 21 June 1705