John Charles Beckwith ( army officer ) John Charles Beckwith ( 1789 – 1862 ) was an army officer , Christian benefactor to the Waldensians and missionary to Northern Italy who was born in Nova Scotia . Life . John Charles Beckwith , known as Charles Beckwith , was born in Halifax , Nova Scotia and was the eldest of ten children . He was the grandson of Major - general John Beckwith and nephew of the generals , Sir George Beckwith and Sir Thomas Sydney Beckwith . He left Halifax to join the British army at age 14 . Charles Beckwith joined the 50th Regiment of Foot in 1803 , exchanging in 1804 into the 95th Rifles , with which regiment he served in the Peninsular campaigns of 1808 - 10 . He was subsequently employed on the staff of the Light Division , and he was repeatedly mentioned in despatches , becoming in 1814 a brevet - major , and after the Battle of Waterloo lieutenant - colonel and C . B . He had four horses shot from under him at the Battle of Waterloo before he lost a leg . Soon afterwards , he became an active reformed Christian but remained a member of the Church of England throughout his life . In 1820 , he left active military service . Seven years later , whilst in the library of Apsley House in London , waiting to see the Duke of Wellington , he picked up a book by Prebendary of Durham , Dr William Gilly about the history of the Protestant Waldensians , also known as the Vaudois , who lived in the Cottian Alps , in north west Italy . The Waldensians had , through skilled military means employed in a few defensible Alpine valleys , maintained their Reformation - type doctrines and championed the principle of freedom of religion since the 14th century in the face of many Papal , Savoyard and French efforts to eradicate them by violence and repression . Having discovered the Waldensian history and their social marginalisation , causing poverty and ignorance , Charles Beckwith consecrated the rest of this life to serve the Waldensians and their faith , both before 1848 when their religious and civil rights were recognised in a new Piedmontese constitution and until he died in 1862 , in Val Pellice . Charles Beckwith made his home in their main town Torre Pellice . He then used his fortune and overseas contacts to help build 120 schools in the Waldensian valleys , a Waldensian hospital , an elegant church and Waldensian headquarters in Torre Pellice in what is still known as ' the English Quarter ' . He worked to strengthen the Waldensian education system and rebuild their ancient missionary zeal to carry the Waldensian faith across Italy . He built the Waldensian Church in Turin and represented them before the Dukes of Savoy in Turin . He was widely regarded as ' a father ' to these people and he married a Waldensian believer from the valleys in 1850 . A book , published in Italian in 2012 , entitled " The General of the Valdesi " ( Waldensians ) along with the Waldensian church buildings which still distinguish Torre Pellice reflect the impact that Charles Beckwith had throughout these valleys . He was promoted to colonel in the British army in 1837 and major - general in 1846 . In 1848 , King Charles Albert made him a knight of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus . Charles Beckwith died on 19 July 1862 at his home in Torre Pellice and is buried in Val Pellice .