George Don ( British Army officer ) General Sir George Don GCB , GCH ( 30 April 1756 – 1 January 1832 ) was a senior British Army military officer and colonial governor during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries . His service was conducted across Europe , but his most important work was in military and defensive organisation against the threat of French invasion during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . Don was also frequently requested for advisory and espionage work by British generals and was once employed by the Prussian State as a spy . In 1799 he was arrested during a truce by Guillaume Brune who accused him of attempting to foment rebellion in the Batavian Republic and was not released until the Peace of Amiens . During and following the wars , Don also served as governor of Jersey and Gibraltar , implementing organisational reforms with much success in both places . Early career . Don was born in 1756 , the second son of wine merchant John Don and his wife Anna Seton . In 1770 , Don joined the army as an ensign in the 51st Regiment of Foot and was stationed in Minorca from 1774 after being made lieutenant . Minorca was at the time a British - administered territory and naval base and was heavily fortified after its capture by the Spanish and recapture in the Seven Years War twenty years earlier . During his service on the island , Don became close acquaintances with the island ' s governor General Johnstone and General James Murray and served on the staff of the former as aide - de - camp and was consequently promoted to captain . During the American Revolutionary War , Minorca came under attack by Spanish and French forces and Don was an important figure in the seven - month siege of the British garrison in Fort St . Philip . Despite the enforced surrender of the garrison in 1782 , his reputation was enhanced and he gained further status when he married Murray ' s niece , Maria Margaretta , in 1783 . Promoted major the same year , Don transferred to the 59th Regiment of Foot for his first posting in Gibraltar where he served on peacetime duty until 1791 . With war again looming in the aftermath of the French Revolution , he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and given a staff appointment in Jersey , where his regiment was stationed in 1792 . Jersey was an obvious target of the French if war was declared , and he worked on the island ' s defences before being called away by Murray in 1793 to serve as his aide - de - camp in the unsuccessful . For his services in this campaign , Don was given the ceremonial post of Aide - de - Camp to King George III and was promoted to full colonel . French Revolutionary War . Don was not evacuated with the rest of the British army in 1795 after the campaign ' s collapse , but instead remained in Europe in the service of the Prussian King . Prussia had been knocked out of the war following the Peace of Basel in 1795 , but remained allied to Britain in her struggle with France and Don was seconded to the Prussian court as a liaison officer . He may have coordinated espionage activities against France during this period , although records are vague . In 1798 Don returned to Britain as a major - general and was placed in command of the defences of the Isle of Wight , a weak spot on the Southern Coast of England . In 1799 , He was attached to the force under the Duke of York which invaded the Batavian Republic with an Anglo - Russian army . He was ostensibly in command of the 3rd Division under Sir David Dundas but was frequently detached on espionage and negotiation duties . This culminated in his arrest by Guillaume Brune during negotiations to allow a peaceful withdrawal of allied troops . Charged with attempting to provoke an anti - French rebellion amongst the Dutch inhabitants of the Batavian Republic , Don spent the next two years in prison , only being released at the end of 1800 in the prelude to the Peace of Amiens . Whilst in captivity , he was rewarded with the colonelcy of the 9th West India Regiment . On his release , Don returned to Scotland and in 1802 was in charge of organising and training the militia forces which were tasked with the defence of the South - Eastern coast of Scotland . In 1803 he returned to London to command the King ' s German Legion , a Hanoverian formation seconded to the British Army . Promoted Lieutenant - General on 1 January 1805 , on 5 November of the same year he sailed with a 14 , 000 strong force to Germany , part of Britain ' s belated land commitment to the 3rd Coalition . Landing at Cuxhaven 17th he was superseded by Lord Cathcart soon after his arrival . Governor of Jersey and Gibraltar . In 1805 Don ' s colonelcy was transferred to the 96th Regiment of Foot and in 1806 he was made Lieutenant Governor of Jersey , a post he maintained for the entire duration of the Napoleonic Wars . In Jersey , he built roads and defences , organised local militia and built up a strong relationship with the local community . His tenure there was only briefly broken in 1809 when he was attached to the ill - fated Walcheren Expedition to command the withdrawal of thousands of desperately sick men . In 1814 after lengthy service on Jersey , Don became a full general and took the post of Lieutenant - Governor of Gibraltar . Finding Gibraltar in the grip of yellow fever , he used his experience from past commissions to organise and build an effective sanitation system in the territory , including a clean water supply , new hospital and the Alameda Botanic Gardens park . Don ' s stay in Gibraltar also included several other innovations including the first police force and the precursor to the Royal Gibraltar Police , the main courthouse , updated defences and a network of roads connecting the peninsula with the Spanish mainland . During his 17 year stay in Gibraltar , Don became very popular and was effectively Governor except for 1821 - 25 when Lord Chatham was in Gibraltar . He was in charge of Gibraltar as Lieutenant - Governor whilst the title of Governor was held by the absentee Duke of Kent until his death in 1820 , followed by the Earl of Chatham . < / ref > Later life . Don also served as the colonel of the 36th Regiment of Foot and the 3rd Regiment of Foot during his time in Gibraltar . He retired in late 1831 as a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath and a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order for his extensive service as a military officer and colonial governor and was given the retirement posting of Governor of Scarborough Castle . He did not return to England however . He died of influenza on 1 January 1832 and was buried in the new English Church ( later the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity , Gibraltar ) which he had had built during his time as Governor . Cape Don , at the tip of the Cobourg Peninsula , Northern Territory , Australia , is named after him .