Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Levinge, Richard George Augustus
LEVINGE, Sir RICHARD GEORGE AUGUSTUS (1811–1884), soldier and writer, born on 1 Nov. 1811, was eldest son of Sir Richard Levinge, sixth baronet, by Elizabeth Anne, eldest daughter of Thomas Boothby, first lord Rancliffe. He entered the 43rd regiment as ensign on 25 Nov. 1828, joined at Gibraltar, and returned to England suddenly in December 1830, in consequence of the disturbances in the manufacturing districts. In 1832 his regiment proceeded to Ireland, and on 8 April 1834 he was promoted lieutenant. On 4 June 1835 he sailed with the left wing of the 43rd for St. John's in Canada, and served in the suppression of the Canadian rebellion of 1837–8. He became captain unattached on 15 May 1840, and was appointed to the 5th dragoon guards on 27 Jan. 1843; he retired, however, from the guards on that day. On 3 Jan. 1846 he was made lieutenant-colonel in the Westmeath militia. On 12 Sept. 1848 he succeeded his father in the baronetcy, and in 1851 he was high sheriff for Westmeath. In 1857 and 1859 he represented the county of Westmeath in the House of Commons. Levinge died on 28 Sept. 1884. He married, first, on 20 March 1849, Caroline Jane (d. 1858), eldest daughter of Colonel Rolleston of Watnall Hall, Nottinghamshire; and secondly, on 10 Feb. 1870, Margaret Charlotte (d. 1871), widow of D. Jones, M.P., and daughter of Sir George Campbell. He left no issue, and was succeeded in the title by his brother, Vere Henry, eighth baronet, whose nephew, Sir William Henry Levinge, is innth and present baronet.
Levinge was a keen sportsman, and much attached to his regiment. He wrote: 1. ‘Echoes from the Backwoods,’ London, 1846, 2 vols. 12mo; 2nd edit. 1859; a record of experiences in Canada. 2. ‘Historical Notices of the Levinge Family,’ Ledestown, 1853. 3. ‘A Day with the Brighton Harriers,’ London, 1858. 4. ‘Historical Records of the Forty-third Regiment, Monmouthshire Light Infantry,’ London, 1868, 8vo.
[Levinge's Works; Army Lists; Burke's Peerage and Baronetage; Times, 30 Sept. 1884; Return of Members of Parliament, ii. 444, 461.]