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1891 PORTSMOUTH STATE of TROOPS, Queen Victoria's Son, ARTHUR, Duke of Connaught

This product data sheet is originally written in English.

1891; Fine Original Manuscript "General State of Troops in Southern District, Portsmouth, 30th April, 1891, Signed by Arthur (Duke of Connaught, 3rd Son of Queen Victoria) as Lieut-General commanding Southern District. The list gives details of the various Corps, with numbers in each of Field Officers, Captains, subalterns, Staff, Warrant Officers, Sergeants, Farriers, Buglers, Rank & File, Total of all Ranks, Horses for Officers, Riding, Draught, & Guns. A fascinating piece of Hampshire Military History.

Fresh to the Market Place, from Major-General Sir John Ponsonby's Collection recently purchased by us, and until now, had remained in the possession of Sir John's descendants.

For more from this collection see our shop category for SIR JOHN PONSONBY COLLECTION

John Ponsonby (British Army officer)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Major-General Sir John Ponsonby KCB CMG DSO (25 March 1866 – 26 March 1952) was a British Army officer who commanded 5th Division during World War I

Born the son of Sir Henry Ponsonby (Queen Victoria's Private Secretary), and brother of Frederick Ponsonby,( Assistant Private Secretary to Edward VII & GV), and Arthur Augustus William Harry Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede, (British politician, writer, and social activist). Sir John was educated at Eton College, Ponsonby was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards in 1888. He served in Uganda in 1898 and was seconded for service in the Second Boer War in South Africa in February 1902.

He fought in World War I as Commander of the 2nd Guards Brigade from 1915 and then as General Officer Commanding 40th Division from 1917, leading his Division at the Battle of Cambrai. In July 1918 he went on to become General Officer Commanding 5th Division remaining in that role until the end of the War. After the War he became General Officer Commanding the Madras District of India. He retired in 1928.

He lived at Haile Hall near Beckermet in Cumbria

Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, (Arthur William Patrick Albert; 1 May 1850 – 16 January 1942) was a member of the British Royal Family who served as the Governor General of Canada, the tenth since Canadian Confederation.

Born the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Arthur was educated by private tutors before entering the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich at the age of 16. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the British Army, where he served for some 40 years, seeing service in various parts of the British Empire. During this time he was also created a royal duke, becoming the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, as well as the Earl of Sussex. In 1911, he was appointed as Governor General of Canada, replacing the Earl Grey as viceroy. He occupied this post until he was succeeded by the Duke of Devonshire in 1916. He acted as the King's, and thus the Canadian Commander-in-Chief's, representative through the first years of the First World War.

After the end of his viceregal tenure, Arthur returned to the United Kingdom and there, as well as in India, performed various royal duties, while also again taking up military duties. Though he retired from public life in 1928, he continued to make his presence known in the army well into the Second World War, before his death in 1942. He was Queen Victoria's last surviving son.

MILITARY CAREER

It was at an early age that Arthur developed an interest in the army, and in 1866 he followed through on his military ambitions by enrolling at the Royal Military College at Woolwich, from where he graduated two years later and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Corps of Royal Engineers on 18 June 1868.[4] The Prince transferred to the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 2 November 1868 and,[5] on 2 August 1869, to the Rifle Brigade,[6] his father's own regiment, after which he conducted a long and distinguished career as an army officer, including service in South Africa, Canada in 1869, Ireland, Egypt in 1882, and in India from 1886 to 1890.

In Canada, Arthur, as an officer with the Montreal detachment of the Rifle Brigade,[2] undertook a year's training and engaged in defending the Dominion from the Fenian Raids; there was initially concern that his personal involvement in Canada's defence might put the Prince in danger from Fenians and their supporters in the United States, but it was decided his military duty was primary.[2] Following his arrival at Halifax, Arthur toured the country for eight weeks and made a visit in January 1870 to Washington, D.C., where he met with President Ulysses S. Grant.[2][7] During his service in Canada he was also entertained by Canadian society; amongst other activities, he attended an investiture ceremony in Montreal, was a guest at balls and garden parties, and attended the opening of parliament in Ottawa (becoming the first member of the Royal Family to do so),[7] all of which was documented in photographs that were sent back for the Queen to view. It was not, however, all social and state functions for Arthur; the Prince was on 25 May 1870 engaged in fending off Fenian invaders during the Battle of Eccles Hill, for which he received the Fenian Medal.

Arthur made an impression on many in Canada. He was given on 1 October 1869 the title Chief of the Six Nations by the Iroquois of the Grand River Reserve in Ontario and the name Kavakoudge (meaning the sun flying from east to west under the guidance of the Great Spirit), enabling him to sit in the tribe's councils and vote on matters of tribe governance. As he became the 51st chief on the council, his appointment broke the centuries-old tradition that there should only be 50 chiefs of the Six Nations.[9] Of the Prince, Lady Lisgar, wife of then Governor General of Canada the Lord Lisgar, noted in a letter to Victoria that Canadians seemed hopeful Prince Arthur would one day return as governor general.

Arthur was promoted to the honorary rank of colonel on 14 June 1871,[11] substantive lieutenant-colonel in 1876,[2] colonel on 29 May 1880 and,[12] on 1 April 13 years later, was made a general.[2] He gained military experience as Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay Army from December 1886 to March 1890.

He went on to be General Officer Commanding Southern District, at Portsmouth, from September 1890 to 1893.

The Prince had hoped to succeed his first cousin once-removed, the elderly Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, as Commander-in-chief of the British Army, upon the latter's forced retirement in 1895. But this desire was denied to Arthur, and instead he was given, between 1893[17] and 1898, command of the Aldershot District Command.

In August 1899 the 6th Battalion, Rifles of the Canadian Non-Permanent Active Militia, located in Vancouver, British Columbia, asked Prince Arthur to give his name to the regiment and act as its honorary colonel. The regiment had recently been converted to the infantry role from the 2nd Battalion, 5th British Columbia Regiment of Canadian Artillery. With the Prince's agreement the unit was renamed 6th Regiment, Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles (DCORs) on 1 May 1900. He was subsequently appointed colonel-in-chief of the regiment, then known as The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own), in 1923. He held that appointment until his death.

On 26 June 1902 he was promoted to the post of field marshal, and thereafter served in various important positions, including Commander-in-Chief of Ireland, from January 1900[18] to 1904, with the dual position of commander of the Third Army Corps from October 1901,[19] and Inspector-General of the Forces, between 1904 and 1907.

UK County	Hampshire
Document Type 2	Manuscript document
Related Interests	Royal Family
Country	England
Surname Initial	C
Certified Genuine	Original & Genuine
Theme	Military
Era	1891
Famous Persons in history	H.R.H. Arthur, Duke of Connaught
City/Town/Village	Portsmouth