Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Sir Reginald Arthur James Talbot, (11 July 1841 – 15 January 1929) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

officer,

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 ...

, and

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and ...

in Australia.

Early life

Talbot was 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 ...

, the third son of Henry, Viscount Ingestre (later 3rd Earl Talbot and then 18th Earl of Shrewsbury) and Lady Sarah Elizabeth, née Beresford, daughter of the 2nd Marquess of Waterford. After attending

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (sc ...

, he joined the

and became a

sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second hig ...

in the

1st Regiment of Life Guards The 1st Regiment of Life Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1788 by the union of the 1st Troop of Horse Guards and 1st Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. In 1922, it was amalgamated w ...

in 1859.L. R. Gardiner
'Talbot, Sir Reginald Arthur James (1841–1929)'
'' Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 12,

Melbourne University Press Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) is the book publishing arm of the University of Melbourne. History MUP was founded in 1922 as Melbourne University Press to sell text books and stationery to students, and soon began publishing books itself. ...

, 1990, p. 165.

Political and military career

From 1869 to 1874, Talbot represented

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in ...

in the British House of Commons for the Conservative Party. On 8 May 1877, he married Margaret Jane Stuart-Wortley, granddaughter of the 1st Baron Wharncliffe. He returned to active service in the army, fighting in the

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, coup ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

and taking part in the unsuccessful

Nile Expedition The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884–85), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to the Sudan to help Egyptians evacuate from Sudan a ...

to relieve General Charles George Gordon in

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

. Talbot was appointed a Companion 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 ...

in 1885. He became General Officer Commanding the

British Troops in Egypt British Troops in Egypt was a command of the British Army. History A British Army commander was appointed in the late 19th century after the Anglo-Egyptian War in 1882. The British Army remained in Egypt throughout the First World War and, after t ...

in 1899, serving as such until 1903. He was promoted to Knight Commander of the

in the 1902 Coronation Honours list, and invested in person by the

Duke of Connaught Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom that was granted on 24 May 1874 by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to her third son, Prince Arthur. At the same time, he was also ...

on 7 December 1902, when the Prince visited Egypt en route to India.

Governor of Victoria

He was sworn in as

on 25 April 1904. His tenure was marked by Talbot's determination to achieve visible improvement, and his reports to Britain favourably compared Victoria's economic and educational statistics to those of 1903. Talbot died in London on 15 January 1929.

Ancestry

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot, Reginald 1841 births 1929 deaths Military personnel from London People educated at Harrow School 3rd Dragoon Guards officers British Army generals British Life Guards officers British Army personnel of the Anglo-Zulu War British Army personnel of the Anglo-Egyptian War British Army personnel of the Mahdist War Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Governors of Victoria (Australia) Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath UK MPs 1868–1874 Younger sons of earls Reginald Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Stafford