Edmond Herbert Grove-Hills CMG CBE FRS (1 August 1864 – 2 October 1922) was a British soldier and astronomer. He was born the son of Herbert Augustus and Anna (née Grove, daughter of

William Robert Grove Sir William Robert Grove, FRS FRSE (11 July 1811 – 1 August 1896) was a Welsh judge and physical scientist. He anticipated the general theory of the conservation of energy, and was a pioneer of fuel cell technology. He invented the Grove volt ...

) Hills in

High Head Castle High Head Castle is a large fortified manor house in the English county of Cumbria. It is located between Carlisle and Penrith. The house is now largely a ruin with the exterior walls and certain foundations surviving for the majority of th ...

, Cumberland and educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

until 1882, after which he entered the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of S ...

. He later adopted the surname Grove-Hills. Hills received a commission as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is head ...

on 5 July 1884, and was promoted to captain on 1 April 1893. He worked as an instructor at the

Royal School of Military Engineering The Royal School of Military Engineering (RSME) Group provides a wide range of training for the British Army and Defence. This includes; Combat Engineers, Carpenters, Chartered Engineers, Musicians, Band Masters, Sniffer Dogs, Veterinary Techni ...

at Chatham, later transferring to surveying duties as a member of the General Staff. In September 1900 he was appointed

deputy assistant adjutant general An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

(DAAG) at the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

, and promotion to major followed on 25 July 1901. He was engaged in the British tribunal to arbitrate the Chile-Argentina boundary dispute. For this service he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in December 1902. He left the army around 1905 and attempted unsuccessfully to enter politics. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

in 1911, his candidacy citation reading: He developed an interest in astronomy, and was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NG ...

. He took part in observations of eclipses of the sun in 1896 (Japan) and 1898 (India). He was recalled from a similar exercise in Russia at the outbreak of World War I in 1914 and appointed Assistant Chief Engineer of Eastern Command. He was awarded CBE in 1918. He served as president of the Royal Astronomical Society from 1913 to 1915. He had married in 1892 Juliet Spencer-Bell, daughter of MP James Spencer-Bell. He is buried in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

, London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grove-Hills, Edmond Herbert 1864 births 1922 deaths 20th-century British astronomers Fellows of the Royal Society People educated at Winchester College Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society 19th-century British astronomers