Augustus Spencer

Sir Augustus Almeric Spencer
Born	25 March 1807 Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
Died	28 August 1893 (aged 86) London
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1825–1875
Rank	General
Commands held	Western District Bombay Army
Battles/wars	Crimean War
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

General The Hon. Sir Augustus Almeric Spencer GCB (25 March 1807 – 28 August 1893) was a British Army officer and a member of the Spencer family.

Military career

Born the third son of Francis Spencer, 1st Baron Churchill, Spencer was commissioned an Ensign into the 43rd Light Infantry on 8 April 1825. He was promoted to lieutenant on 5 July 1827, captain on 6 April 1831 and major on 21 July 1843.^[1][2]

Spencer was given command of the 44th Regiment of Foot in 1845 and, having been promoted to lieutenant colonel on 17 May 1854 and to colonel on 20 June 1854, he led that regiment at the Battle of Alma, at the Battle of Inkerman and at the Siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War.^[1][2] He became commander of a brigade at Aldershot in 1856, and having been promoted to major general on 13 February 1860, he became General Officer Commanding a division of the Madras Army in 1860 and General Officer Commanding Western District in the UK in 1866.^[2] Promoted to lieutenant general on 9 May 1868, he went on to be Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay Army in 1869 before retiring in 1875.^[2]

Following the death of General Arthur Simcoe Baynes on 13 September 1875,^[3] Spencer was promoted to brevet general the following day.^[4]

Family

In 1836 he married Helen Maria Campbell, second daughter of General Sir Archibald Campbell, 1st Baronet of Ava.^[5][6] The couple had five daughters and a son.^[7] One of Spencer's grandsons was the Reverend Canon Henry Spencer Stephenson, Chaplain to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II.^[8]

Awards

On 16 June 1856 Brigadier-General the Hon. Sir Augustus Almeric Spencer, commander of the 44th Regiment of Foot, was awarded the French Legion of Honour that was reported in the Le Moniteur.^[9]

Death

Spencer died on 28 August 1893 and was buried at Brompton Cemetery in London.^[10]

References

1. Hart, H. G. (1880). The New Army List Militia List and Indian Civil Service List. John Murray. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
2. "Augustus Spencer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
3. "Arthur Simcoe Baynes". Military Images. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
4. The London Gazette: no. 24257. p. 4954. 22 October 1875. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
5. Lodge, Edmund (1849). The Peerage of the British Empire as at present existing. Saunders and Otley, London, England. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
6. Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage. Dean & Son Limited, Great Britain. 1902. p. 182. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
7. Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1895). Armorial Families: A Complete Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, and a Directory of Some Gentlemen of Coat-armour, and Being the First Attempt to Show which Arms in Use at the Moment are Borne by Legal Authority, Part 1. Jack, Great Britain. p. 919. Retrieved 14 January 2014. Under Dame Helen Maria Spencer, Widow of Augustus Almeric Spencer
8. Walford, Edward (1893). The Windsor Peerage for 1890-1894. Chatto & Windus, Piccadilly, London, England. p. 118. Retrieved 7 June 2014. See entry for Churchill, 3rd Baron
9. Legion of Honour award- Retrieved 2016-06-12
10. "Funeral of Augustus Almeric Spencer". The Times Newspaper, London, UK. 5 September 1893. p. 3.

External links

• Augustus Almeric Spencer on Find A Grave