Nugent became Governor of Jamaica in April 1801[14] with promotion to local lieutenant general on 29 May 1802.[15] While serving there, he strengthened the fort that the Spanish slave agent in Jamaica, James Castillo, had built in 1709 in Harbour View. Named Fort Nugent, the fort guarded the eastern entrance of the city of Kingston Harbour, although all that remains there now is a Martello tower that was added after Nugent's departure.[16] Promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant general on 25 September 1803,[17] Nugent returned to England in February 1806 and became commander of the Western District in England in August 1806.[2] He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Aylesbury on 3 November 1806[18] and created a baronet of Waddesdon in the county of Buckinghamshire on 11 November 1806.[19] He bought Westhorpe House in Buckinghamshire in October 1808 and became commander of the Kent District in England in July 1809.[2]
Having been appointed a Knight of the Order of the Bath on 1 February 1813[21] and promoted to full general on 4 June 1813, Nugent was replaced as Commander-in-Chief by Lord Moira in October 1813.[7] Nugent was relegated to the role of Commander of the Bengal Army but instead chose to return to England in October 1814.[2] On return he unleashed a "skin-full of venom" against Lord Moira who in turn complained to the Prince Regent about Nugent's hostile behaviour.[20] He was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 2 January 1815[22] and, having been elected Member of Parliament for Buckingham again in July 1818,[23] he was awarded an honorary DCL by the University of Oxford in 1819.[2] He finally retired from Parliament in 1832.[2]
George and Maria Nugent lived at Stowe and enjoyed a close friendship with his aunt and uncle, Lord and Lady Buckingham.[32]
Lady Nugent, who died in 1834, wrote a journal of her experiences in Jamaica first published in 1907.[33][34] Sir George died at Westhorpe House on 11 March 1849 and was buried at St John the Baptist Church in Little Marlow.[7]
^ ab"Cottesloe, Baron (UK, 1874)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
Heathcote, Tony (1999). The British Field Marshals, 1736–1997: A Biographical Dictionary. Barnsley: Leo Cooper. ISBN0-85052-696-5.
Smith, Henry Stooks (1851). An alphabetical list of the officers of the Eighty-Fifth, Bucks Volunteers, the Kings Light Infantry Regiment from 1800 to 1850. London: Simpkin, Marshall. ISBN978-1110157846.
Further reading
Wright, Philip (2002). Lady Nugent's Journal of Her Residence in Jamaica from 1801 to 1805. University of the West Indies Press. ISBN1-84415-143-3.