HALKETT, JOHN [SSNE 7966]
- Surname
- HALKETT, HALQUET, HALKET, HACKET, HACQUET, HAQUET
- First name
- JOHN, JEAN, JAN, JOHAN
- Title/rank
- COLONEL, SIR
- Nationality
- SCOT
- Region
- PITFIRRANE, DUNFERMLINE
- Social status
- OFFICER
Text source
Sir John Halkett was a Scottish officer serving in the Scots-Dutch Brigade between c.1604-1629. He was the second son of George Halkett of Pitfirrane, and thus, "being born a younger brother he betook himself to a military life, went into the service of Holland," (Ferguson, 67). Halkett was one of at least twelve Halkett officers in Dutch service between 1582-1782, and was the direct ancestor of Lieutenant-General Alexander Halkett, Governor of Breda between 1740-1743, among many others who served in the Republic with distinction.
Halkett was promoted to captain in Lord Buccleuch's [SSNE 5010] regiment on 27 November 1604 when the previous captain, John Murray, died. Although at full strength his command should have numbered 150 men, at the time of his promotion only 53 men remained in the company. Between 1609-1617 he was in command of 70 men. During this time, Halkett married Maria van Loon, a young lady from Amsterdam, in The Hague on 19 December 1608. At some point he was promoted to sergeant-major, probably in 1612 when Buccleuch died and the Henderson brothers [SSNE 8024 and 4975] were promoted to colonel and lieutenant-colonel.
By 1621, Halkett was in command of 120 men. Halkett rose to lieutenant-colonel on 31 Oct 1622. He remained in this position until 28 December 1628, when his then colonel, Sir Francis Henderson [SSNE 8024] died (or was killed). According to Ferguson, upon the death of Henderson, Prince Frederick Henry saw it as "inadvisable to pass over the experienced lieutenant-colonels in favor of a nobleman from Britain, who, however brave, had not yet practical training in Low Country campaigning," (Ferguson, 308). The two regiments of the Brigade were split into three and Sir John Halkett was given Henderson's former command with Sir David Balfour [SSNE 8033] as his lieutenant-colonel. This command was not to last: Bois-le-Duc was besieged by Spinola on 30 April 1629 and around 6 September 1629 Halkett was killed during the siege and Balfour assumed his command.
In Janurary 1640, his widow, Maria van Loon, petitioned the States-General for a pension. The matter was placed into the hands of the Council of State, and on 3 February 1640 they motioned in favor of van Loon, seeing "no reason why this widow deserves less favor and consideration than the widows of other colonels," (Ferguson, 459). Because she had received some monetary aid from the government sometime before this, the Council decided that instead of the usual 1500 guilder pension to be distributed over three years, van Loon would receive 1000 guilders to be paid over four years.
Sources:
J. Ferguson, Papers Illustrating the History of the Scots Brigade in theservice of the United Netherlands, 1572-1697 (Edinburgh, 1899), pp. xxxiv, 65, 66, 67, 68, 70, 74, 226, 228, 230, 308, 311, 318, 319, 332, 458-459.
Dr. Ir. J. MacLean, De Huwelijksintekeningen Van Schotse Militairen in Nederland: 1574-1665 (Zutphen, 1976), p. 140.
This entry created by Mr Jack Abernethy.
Service record
- ,
- Arrived 0000-00-00
- Departed 0000-00-00
- THE DUTCH REPUBLIC, THE SCOTS BRIGADE, BUCCLEUCH, HENDERSON
- Arrived 1604-11-27, as CAPTAIN
- Departed 1612-12-31, as SERGEANT MAJOR
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
- THE DUTCH REPUBLIC, THE SCOTS BRIGADE, R. HENDERSON
- Arrived 1612-01-01, as SERGEANT-MAJOR
- Departed 1622-10-31, as LIEUTENANT-COLONEL
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
- THE DUTCH REPUBLIC, THE SCOTS BRIGADE, COL. F. HENDERSON
- Arrived 1622-10-31, as LIEUTENANT COLONEL
- Departed 1628-12-28, as COLONEL
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
- THE DUTCH REPUBLIC, THE SCOTS BRIGADE, COL. HALKETT
- Arrived 1628-12-28, as COLONEL
- Departed 1629-09-06, as DECEASED
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY