General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Sir Anthony Blaxland Stransham (22 December 1805 – 6 October 1900) was a senior officer in the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

Background

Stransham was the son of Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Stransham of the Royal Marines, and grandson of Major Samuel Stransham, also of the Royal Marines, who raised the Union Flag on the Falklands in 1771, claiming formal possession of the islands for the United Kingdom.

Military career

Stransham entered the

on 1 January 1823. Four years after entering the service, he was present as a subaltern at the

Battle of Navarino The Battle of Navarino was a naval battle fought on 20 October (O. S. 8 October) 1827, during the Greek War of Independence (1821–29), in Navarino Bay (modern Pylos), on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, in the Ionian Sea. Allied ...

on 20 October 1827. Stransham led the Royal Marines during the First Battle of Canton in the

First Opium War The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...

on 18 March 1841. He was wounded and promoted to captain. He was awarded the Baltic Medal, having been with

Charles John Napier Admiral Sir Charles John Napier KCB GOTE RN (6 March 1786Priscilla Napier (1995), who is not elsewhere free from error, gives the birth year as 1787 (p. 1, and book title), but provides no evidence. All other authorities agree on 1786. – 6 ...

in 1854. From 1862 to 1867, General Stransham was Inspector-General of the Royal Marines. Later in his career, as a general, the "Grand Old Man of the Army" became a

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as ...

. He saw active service for over 53 years, retiring with the rank of

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

on 24 December 1875.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stransham, Anthony Blaxland 1805 births 1900 deaths British military personnel of the First Opium War Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath British military personnel of the Greek War of Independence Royal Marines generals Royal Navy personnel of the Crimean War Military personnel from Norfolk People from North Norfolk (district)