Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Eric Richard Thesiger DSO, TD (17 February 1874 – 2 October 1961), styled The Honourable from 1878, was a British soldier and page to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

Background

Born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in February 1874, Thesiger was the fourth son of

Frederic Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford Frederic Augustus Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford, (31 May 18279 April 1905) was a British Army officer who rose to prominence during the Anglo-Zulu War, when an expeditionary force under his command suffered a decisive defeat at the hands of ...

and his wife Adria Fanny Heath, daughter of Major-General John Coussamker Heath. His older brothers were

Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford Frederic John Napier Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford, (12 August 1868 – 1 April 1933) was a British statesman. He served as Governor of Queensland from 1905 to 1909, Governor of New South Wales from 1909 to 1913, and Viceroy of India from ...

and the diplomat

Wilfred Gilbert Thesiger Wilfred Gilbert Thesiger DSO (25 March 1871 – 31 January 1920) was a British officer and diplomat, who was British Minister in Ethiopia from 1909 to 1919. Background and early life Thesiger was born into a well-connected family of politicia ...

. Thesiger was 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 ...

and in 1884, he was nominated

Page of Honour A Page of Honour is a ceremonial position in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It requires attendance on state occasions, but does not now involve the daily duties which were once attached to the office of page. The on ...

to the Queen, a post he fulfilled for the following six years. In 1893, he became a Staff Commissioner of Police.

Career

Thesiger joined the

Imperial Yeomanry The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer mounted force of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Created on 2 January 1900, the force was initially recruited from the middle classes and traditional yeomanry sources, but su ...

as a private during the

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

, when he was appointed 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 ...

of the 15th Battalion (Imperial Yeomanry) on 29 November 1900. On 1 November 1901 he was promoted to captain in the battalion, with the temporary rank of captain in the Army. He stayed in South Africa until the war ended in June 1902, left

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, S ...

for

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

on the ''SS Colombian'' the following month, and relinquished his commission in the Imperial Yeomanry on 3 September 1902, when he was granted the honorary rank of captain in the Army. In late 1902 he became a second lieutenant of the

Surrey Yeomanry The Surrey Yeomanry was a unit of the British Army first formed as volunteer cavalry in 1794. It was reformed in 1901 and saw varied srvice in World War I. Postwar it was converted to artillery and during World War II one of its regiments disting ...

. He was transferred as major from the Yeomanry into the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

in 1908. In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

Thesiger was wounded twice and was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) 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 ...

as many times. He was appointed to the 10th Battalion, Royal West Surrey Regiment in 1917, commanding it until 1918, and subsequently the 10th Battalion,

Royal West Kent Regiment The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Que ...

for another year. In March of the latter year, he was decorated with the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typi ...

(DSO) and in August, he received the

Territorial Decoration __NOTOC__ The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer Officer's Decoration when the T ...

(TD). He was made an Officer of the Order of the Crown of Belgium and also awarded the

Belgian Croix de guerre The ''Croix de guerre'' (French) or ''Oorlogskruis'' ( Dutch), both literally translating as "Cross of War", is a military decoration of the Kingdom of Belgium established by royal decree on 25 October 1915. It was primarily awarded for bravery ...

in October and some days later, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel. He retired from the Territorial Army in 1929, having reached the age limit.

Family

On 29 October 1904, he married firstly Pearl Marie Coupland, only daughter of John Coupland, and had by her a daughter and two sons. She died in 1922, and Thesiger remarried Sydney Hilda Hutton-Croft, daughter of George Arthur Hutton-Croft on 3 October 1929, but she died only a year later. He married thirdly Mary Pudsey, daughter of Reverend F. W. Pudsey, on 27 March 1953. His third wife sadly also died the next year, and Thesiger survived her until 1961.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thesiger, Eric 1874 births 1961 deaths Military personnel from London British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army personnel of World War I Imperial Yeomanry officers Pages of Honour People educated at Winchester College Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment officers Younger sons of barons Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France) Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Surrey Yeomanry officers

Eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* a ...