Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Sir Ernest Makins, (14 October 1869 – 18 May 1959) was a British military officer, statesman and Conservative Party politician.

Military career

Making was commissioned a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...

in the

1st (Royal) Dragoons The Royal Dragoons (1st Dragoons) was a heavy cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1661 as the Tangier Horse. It served for three centuries and was in action during the First and the Second World Wars. It was amalg ...

on 23 January 1892, was promoted to

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 ...

on 31 August 1893, and to

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

on 2 February 1898. He fought in 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 ...

between 1899 and 1902, where he took part in the Relief of Ladysmith, including the battles of Colenso (15 December 1899), Spion Kop (20–24 January 1900), Vaal Krantz (5–7 February 1900), and the Tugela Heights and Pieter's Hill (14–27 February 1900). In the following months he took part in operations in Natal March to June, and in the

Orange River Colony The Orange River Colony was the British colony created after Britain first occupied (1900) and then annexed (1902) the independent Orange Free State in the Second Boer War. The colony ceased to exist in 1910, when it was absorbed into the Unio ...

until November 1900.Hart´s Army list, 1903 He 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 ...

on 10 September 1901, and appointed a Companion of 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) for his service during the war. After peace was declared in May 1902, Makins left South Africa on board the SS ''Bavarian'' and arrived in the United Kingdom the following month. He was promoted to major on 3 September 1902, and received the insignia of the DSO from King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

following troop inspections on 4 November 1902. Makins fought in the First World War, where he was also mentioned in despatches. He was appointed commander of the 6th Cavalry Brigade in September 1914. On 11 May 1915 he was promoted to temporary brigadier-general. He was Colonel of the 1st Royal Dragoons between 1931 and 1946.

Honours

(DSO; 1902) * Companion, Order of the Bath (CB; 1917) *

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(KBE; 1938)

Political career

He was elected at the 1922 general election as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) for the Knutsford division of Cheshire, and held the seat until he retired from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

at the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgaria ...

Family

He married Maria Florence Mellor (ca. 1877 – 11 August 1972) on 31 January 1903. Their children were: * Sir Roger Mellor Makins, 1st Baron Sherfield, KCMG (1904–1996) * Guy Herbert Makins (5 July 1906 – 17 September 1923) * Major Geoffrey Henry Makins (19 October 1915 – 4 September 1944) :One of Sir Ernest Makins' grandsons, by his eldest son, was Christopher J. Makins (1942—2006), a British-American diplomat

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Makins, Ernest 1869 births 1959 deaths 1st The Royal Dragoons officers Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People from Kensington People from Knutsford UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 People educated at Winchester College British Army brigadiers British Army cavalry generals of World War I