Brigadier-General Charles Harry Lyon, (18 March 1878 – 3 December 1959) was an English soldier who also played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

in 1902.

Early life

Lyon was born at The Lodge,

Rocester Rocester is a village and civil parish in the East Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. Its name is spelt ''Rowcestre'' in the Domesday Book. It is located on the Derbyshire border. Geography The village is about north of Utto ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, the eldest son of Charles William Lyon and his wife Florence. His father was a cotton manufacturer who ran a mill at Rocester and was a Justice of the Peace.

Military career

Lyon was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the 4th ( Extra Reserve) Battalion, the

North Staffordshire Regiment The North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. The 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot was created on 21 April 1758 from the 2nd Battali ...

in February 1900, but two months later, in April of the same year, transferred to the 2nd Battalion of the regiment. The 2nd Battalion was a

regular Regular may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * "Regular" (Badfinger song) * Regular tunings of stringed instruments, tunings with equal intervals between the paired notes of successive open strings Other uses * Regular character, ...

battalion and was at the time on active service in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

, where Lyon joined the battalion and served with it throughout the war, being

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

in 1901. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 19 January 1901, while in South Africa. After peace was declared in May 1902, Lyon left

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

on board the SS ''Bavarian'' and arrived in the United Kingdom the following month. He remained with the 2nd Battalion when it was posted to India in 1903 where he became

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

and was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

In 1912 Lyon was seconded as a student to the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

Upon leaving the Staff College, Lyon was posted to the 1st Battalion, North Staffords which was then serving in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

; and he was still with it at the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in mid-1914. The battalion mobilised in August 1914 and went to France in September, but Lyon only remained with it for another month, until October 1914, when he was attached to the

general staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

as a staff captain. This was the first of many staff posts that he held until the end of his career, and he never returned to regimental duty. In March 1915 he moved to become a deputy assistant quartermaster general, and by the end of the war held the substantive rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

, the brevet rank of lieutenant colonel and the temporary rank of brigadier-general. He was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

(DSO) in the New Year's Honours List for 1916, appointed a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(CMG) in January 1918, and made a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

; as well as two Belgian decorations, being made an Officier de l'Ordre de la Couronne and receiving the

Croix de guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

. Post-war, Lyon served as Assistant Director of Quartering at the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

. He finished his Army career as Assistant Quarter Master General, retiring on half pay in March 1927 with the honorary rank of Brigadier-General.

Cricketing career

Between his return from South Africa and his departure for India Lyon played two first-class cricket matches for Derbyshire in the 1902 season. The first was in a match against

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, which resulted in a draw. Less than a week later, Lyon made his only other first-class appearance, against

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

. He was a right-handed batsman and made six runs in his two matches. He bowled two overs without taking a wicket. After the First World War, he played for the

Free Foresters Cricket Club Free Foresters Cricket Club is an English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' (or nomadic) club, having no home ground. The Free Foresters were founded by the Rev. Wi ...

Personal life

Lyon married Gwenlliam Mary Campbell, a member of the Minton pottery family. The couple had one daughter, Frances Mary Lyon. After his retirement from the Army Lyon settled in

Ightfield Ightfield is a small village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was 529. Within the civil parish boundaries is another small village - Calverhall. Ightfield is situated in a rural area, w ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, and became a Land Tax Commissioner for the county. He died at Ightfield in 1959, leaving an endowment, the Charles Harry Lyon Endowment, managed by the charity Ightfield with Calverhall Village Hall and Playing Field, to manage the land and buildings held by the committee for the villagers, clubs and wider community of Ightfield.

References

;Notes ;Sources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyon, Charles 1878 births 1959 deaths English cricketers Derbyshire cricketers North Staffordshire Regiment officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath British recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium) Officers of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Sportspeople from Staffordshire People from Rocester Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley British Army generals of World War I British Army brigadiers Military personnel from Staffordshire Staffordshire Militia officers