Thomas Wildman was ADC to Lord Uxbridge at the battle of Waterloo. He was present when Uxbridge was badly wounded by grapeshot on the knee, and attended his leg amputation. At the time he was serving in the 7th Hussars; his brothers, Captain Edward Wildman (who later commanded the 6th Dragoon Guards) and Lieutenant John Wildman were also in the 7th Hussars and fought at Waterloo. Thomas transferred to the 9th Lancers on 31 Oct 1916 with the rank of major.
Thomas Wildman was born in 1787 the eldest son of Thomas Wildman of Bacton Hall, Suffolk. His mother was Sarah, daughter of Henry Hardinge of Durham. He was educated at Harrow where he befriended Lord Byron, and went on to Christ Church, Oxford in 1807. He entered the 7th Hussars in 1808, purchasing his promotion to lieutenant on 20 Sep 1808. He served in the Peninsula and was in the retreat to Corunna. He was a captain on 18 Feb 1813 and after the Waterloo campaign, on 31 Oct 1916 he transferred as a major to the 9th Light Dragoons who were in the process of converting to lancers. His last appearance on the 9th Lancers army list is in 1820. In 1828 he was an officer in the Nottinghamshire Yeomanry and later that year was appointed commandant of the Sherwood Rangers. In 1837 he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel.
The Wildman family purchased the Quebec Estate, a large sugar plantation in Jamaica, from William Beckford. The wealth generated from this allowed Thomas to buy Newstead Abbey from Lord Byron whose family had owned it for nearly 400 years. Wildman also had possession of a large collection of Byron memorabilia. He spent 100,000 pounds restoring the place, hiring the architect John Shaw to make improvements. He was married to Louisa Presig in 1816 but they had no children. She was from Appenzal, Switzerland and 15 yrs-old at the time. He served as High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire in 1821 and was equerry to the Duke of Sussex. Colonel Thomas Wildman died on 20 September 1859 and Newstead Abbey was sold by his wife. The portrait is by Thomas Lawrence.
