At the time "The Reluctant Widow" was written Colonel Henry Torrens was Military Secretary to the Duke of York, at the Horse Guards.

 

Henry Torrens, is said to be descended from a Swedish Count Torrens, a captain of cavalry in the army of William III, who established himself in Ireland after the battle of the Boyne in 1690. Henry, the fourth son, was born at Londonderry in 1779. Both his parents died in his infancy, and he was brought up by the Rev. Dr. Thomas Torrens, his father's first cousin.

He had a very varied military life, beginning with a commission as ensign at the age of 14 and finishing as Major General, Colonel of the 2nd (Queen's) Foot, adjutant-general of the forces.

He saw service in all the major wars of those time, being promoted and transferred to different ranks and regiments. He was in the West Indies 1795-98, Portugal 1798, the Netherlands 1799, Nova Scotia 1799-1801, The Indian Force in Egypt 1802 on the way to India.

However when they reached Bombay he was so ill with sunstroke that he had to sail back to Europe. They stopped at the island of St Helena on the way and he met and married Sarah, the daughter of the Governor, Colonel Robert Patton.

He rejoined his regiment in India the following year, commanding in the field during the Maratha war. He then returned to England.

From there it was back to Montevideo in South America in 1807, then return to England in 1807 when he was reappointed on 27 Nov. an assistant adjutant-general on the staff in Great Britain, and in December became assistant military secretary to the commander-in-chief, the Duke of York.

In June 1808 Torrens was appointed military secretary to Sir Arthur Wellesley, and accompanied him to Portugal.

He returned to England in October with Wellesley, and resumed his duties as assistant military secretary at headquarters. Then on 2 October 1809 Torrens was promoted to be military secretary to the commander-in-chief.

On 20 Feb. 1812 he was appointed aide-de-camp to the Prince Regent, and promoted to be colonel in the army, and on 4 June 1814 he was promoted to be major-general. On 3 Jan. 1815 he was made a knight-commander of the order of the Bath, military division.

He was responsible for revising the regulations regarding training the infantry troops, updating the manoeuvres to incorporate lessons learned in his vast experience in different battles.

He died suddenly on a visit to a friend in Danesbury Hertfordshire, on 23rd August 1828. He is buried in Welwyn church, Hertfordshire.

There is a long detailed entry in the British Dictionary of National Biography, which called on these references.

Memoir privately printed; War Office Records; Despatches; Memoirs in Royal Military Calendar, 1820, in Gent. Mag. 1828, in Annual Register, 1828, in Naval and Military Mag. 1828 vol. iv., and in Jerdan's National Portrait Gallery of Illustrious and Eminent Personages of the Nineteenth Century, 1830, vol. i.; Cust's Annals of the Wars of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries; Conolly's Fifiana.