Captain Francis (Frank) Holburne (1788-1814)
Sir Francis’ eldest son. Frank joined the army, the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards, in 1806 aged 17; he achieved the rank of Captain in 1813. He fought in the Peninsular Campaigns during the Napoleonic wars, serving in Spain under Wellington and crossing into France in 1813. There he was involved in the blockade of the city of Bayonne in early 1814. Meanwhile, Wellington inflicted defeats at Orthez and Toulouse and Napoleon abdicated. The Governor of Bayonne dismissed the news of Napoleon’s defeat as rumour and attacked the Allied forces on 14 April. Frank was injured by a musket ball to the foot. He died of tetanus on 23 April, at age 25. Frank asked that his sword and sash were ‘to be sent to my brother’. Frank’s death meant that his brother William became his father’s heir.