Patent for General Jacob de Budé as Gentleman of the Bedchamber, 1770, GEO/ADD/15/0754 Royal Archives/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019
Jacob de Budé died at Windsor Castle on 30 October 1818, and was buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor; his memorial, in the Rutland Chapel, records that he was born at Geneva, presumably in 1736, as the memorial gives his age at death as 82. His obituary describes him as a native of the Pays de Vaud in Switzerland. Again according to his obituary, he entered the service of the Prince of Orange as a Page, and with a military commission, later gaining a higher rank in a Swiss regiment raised for Sardinian service. He obtained the rank of Major-General around 1776 and General of Infantry [possibly in the Hanoverian service?] in 1813. He remained unmarried, but left relations in Switzerland.
His papers in the Royal Archives indicate that he was appointed a Gentleman of the Bedchamber in 1770 and ADC to George III in 1779. Around 1773, it appears that he was appointed Sub-Governor to Prince William and Prince Edward, sons of George III, accompanying Prince William to Hanover; and his papers include correspondence with the King regarding Prince William’s education while at sea. De Budé also seems to have been receiving payment from the Duke of York from c. 1782: printed lists and accounts describe him as Secretary for Foreign Affairs to the Duke from 1788, and his papers include correspondence from the Duke over the period 1785-1800 referring to such matters as a water closet and other furnishings for the Duke’s house, the younger Princes’ education and time abroad, and events in Europe.
Print of Lord Samuel Hood, from The Life of Lord Nelson; v. 1 by Robert Southey, RCIN 1047034 ©
Presumably on account of de Budé’s position with Prince William, he became friends with Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel (later Lord) Hood, who oversaw Prince William’s education at sea: and de Budé’s papers consequently include many letters from Hood in the years 1781-1783, describing British naval actions around the Caribbean and North America, with reference to the Battle of the Saintes in 1782 [GEO/ADD/15/0680-0684].
De Budé’s papers in the Royal Archives also include various personal items, such as records regarding his finances, insurance policies and inventories, and miscellaneous material, such as verses and recipes, and copies of correspondence between Lord Melville, Henry Addington and William Pitt concerning Pitt’s possible return to office in 1803.