William Leeke obtained his commission as an ensign in the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot through the influence of Sir John Colborne[REF] (later Lord Seaton), the regiment's colonel, who was a relative: Leeke's mother's brother, Thomas Bargus, had married Colborne's mother [REF].
(Colborne's father had died in 1785, when he was seven) [REF].