Ronald Lane

Sir Ronald Lane
Sir Ronald Lane
Born	1847
Died	1937 Saxmundham, Suffolk
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1867–1909
Rank	Major General
Commands held	Garrison at Alexandria Infantry Brigade at Malta
Battles/wars	Anglo-Egyptian War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order

Major General Sir Ronald Bertram Lane, KCB, KCVO (1847–1937) was a British Army officer who became Military Secretary.

Early life

Lane was born on the 19th of February 1847, the youngest son and 10th child of John Newton Lane of King's Bromley Manor, Litchfield.^[1] Through his father, he was a descendant of the Lane family of Bentley Hall (later of Kings Bromley) one of whom was Jane Lane, the English Civil War heroine.

Military career

Lane was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade in 1867.^[2] He was appointed Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster-General in Natal in 1891, Aide-de-Camp to the Duke of Connaught as Commander of the Guards' Brigade in Egypt in 1882 and Assistant Military Secretary in Canada in 1883.^[1] He went on to be Assistant Military Secretary at Headquarters in 1892, Aide-de-camp to the Duke of Cambridge as Commander-in-Chief in 1889 and Commander of the Garrison at Alexandria in 1898.^[1] In December 1901 he was appointed Commander of the Infantry Brigade at Malta,^[3] and he served as administrator of the government during the absence of the Governor, Sir Francis Grenfell, in July 1902.^[4] His last appointments were as Military Secretary at Headquarters in 1903 and Lieutenant-Governor and Secretary of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in 1905 before retiring in 1909.^[1][5]

In retirement he became Chairman of the Southern Alberta Land Company in Canada.^[6] He died at Carlton Hall in Saxmundham.^[7]

Family

In 1893 he married Augusta Sarah Beaumont, daughter of John Augustus Beaumont, developer of Wimbledon Park. Their only child, Captain George Ronald Lane was in the Coldstream Guards and fell in action on the Somme in 1916.^[1]

References

1. The county families of the United Kingdom or, Royal manual of the titled and untitled aristocracy of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland (Volume ed.59, 1919) by Edward Walford, p. 210
2. The London Gazette: no. 23214. p. 553. 1 February 1867. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
3. The London Gazette: no. 27402. p. 649. 31 January 1902.
4. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36823). London. 18 July 1902. p. 9.
5. A history and architectural account of the Royal Hospital at Chelsea, including King James' Theological College, formerly on the same site
6. Dix Noonan Webb
7. Obituary: Major-General Sir Ronald Lane The Times, 8 March 1937