Robert Biddulph (British Army officer)

Sir Robert Biddulph
Born (1835-08-26)26 August 1835
London, England
Died 18 November 1918(1918-11-18) (aged 83)
Cornwall Gardens, Kensington, England
Buried at Charlton cemetery, London
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service 1850–1904
Rank General
Commands held Gibraltar
Cyprus
Battles/wars Crimean War
Indian Mutiny
Second Opium War
Awards Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George

General Sir Robert Biddulph, GCB, GCMG (26 August 1835 – 18 November 1918) was a senior British Army officer. He served as Quartermaster-General to the Forces in 1893, and was then Governor of Gibraltar until 1900.

Military career

Educated at Twyford School and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Biddulph was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1853.[1] He served in the Crimean War and was present at the Siege of Sevastopol in 1854.[1] He then served in the Indian Mutiny, and was Brigade Major during the Siege of Lucknow in 1857.[1]

In 1871 he was selected to be Assistant Adjutant-General at the War Office and then in 1879 he succeeded Sir Garnet Wolseley as High Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief of Cyprus.[1] In 1886 he returned to London to be Inspector-General of Recruiting and two years later became Director-General of Military Education.[1] In 1893 he was briefly Quartermaster-General to the Forces.[2] Later that year he became Governor of Gibraltar.[1]

His final appointment, in 1904, was as Army Purchase Commissioner: in that capacity he abolished the purchase of commissions.[1]

He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1899 Birthday Honours.[3] Biddulph's Gate in Famagusta in Cyprus is named after him.[4]

Family

In 1864 he married Sophia Lambert and together they went on to have four sons and six daughters.[5]

References

Military offices
Preceded by
Sir Thomas Baker
Quartermaster-General to the Forces
1893
Succeeded by
Sir Evelyn Wood
Government offices
Preceded by
Sir Lothian Nicholson
Governor of Gibraltar
1893–1900
Succeeded by
Sir George Stuart White
Honorary titles
Preceded by
Lord Roberts
Master Gunner, St James's Park
1914–1918
Succeeded by
Francis Ward
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