Wolsey (Viscount), GENERAL SIR GARNET JOSEPH, was born at Golden Bridge House, County Dublin, June 4, 1833. The Wolseys are an old Staffordshire family, the manor of Wolsey having been in their possession before the Conquest. Educated by private tutors, and at a day-school near Dublin, he early showed a predilection for a military life, and his name was put down for a commission at fourteen. He entered the army in 1852, and since then has been constantly engaged in the service of his country, has proved himself a genuine soldier, and has delighted in dash and danger. He served in the Burmese war of 1852-53, and was dangerously wounded in the left thigh; he was severely wounded in the Crimea, where he served in the 90th Light Infantry; he lost the use of one eye, and had some marvellous escapes, and received the cross of the Legion of Honour for his bravery there. He was in India during the mutiny, and at its close received the brevet of lieutenant-colonel though only twenty-six, and in the Chinese war of 1860. Next year he went to Canada, and in 1870 successfully put down the Red River rebellion under Louis Riel without losing a man.
On the outbreak of the Ashantee war Wolsey, now K.C.M.G., was appointed to the command, and on his return received the thanks of parliament and a grant of £25,000 for the 'courage, energy, and perseverance' he had displayed in the conduct of the expedition; he was also presented with the freedom of the City of London and a sword. In 1875, become a major-general, he was despatched to Natal to superintend the affairs of the colony; in 1876 was nominated a member of the Indian Council. In 1878 he was made high commissioner in Cyprus, and in 1879 held supreme civil and military command in Natal, the Transvaal, and adjacent disturbed territories. He was commander-in-chief of the expedition to Egypt in 1882, received the thanks of parliament, was gazetted Baron Wolsey of Cairo and of Wolsey in Stafford, and received a money grant and became general. Made a viscount after the Soudan campaigns of 1884-85, he became commander-in-chief in Ireland in 1890, field-marshall in 1894, and was in 1895-1900 commander-in-chief. He has published a Narrative of the War with China in 1860 (1862); the Soldier's Pocket Book; an essay on Field Manœuvres (1872); a novel (Marley Castle, 1877); a Life of Marlborough (2 vols. 1894); and The Decline and Fall of Napoleon (1895). See Low's Memoir of Wolsey (1878; revised ed. 1886).