General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir Robert Percy Douglas, 4th Baronet (29 August 1805 – 30 September 1891) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who became

Lieutenant Governor of Jersey The lieutenant governor of Jersey (Jèrriais:, "Governor of Jersey"), properly styled the lieutenant-governor of Jersey (), is the representative of the British monarch in the Bailiwick of Jersey, a dependency of the British Crown. Presentl ...

Early life

The son of General Sir Howard Douglas, 3rd Baronet,Douglas History
/ref> Douglas was educated at High Wycombe Royal Grammar School. As the last surviving son of his father, he succeeded to the Baronetcy in 1861.

Military career

He was commissioned into the British Army in 1819 and rose to become

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

of 2nd Battalion of the Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire) Regiment. He was

from 1860 to 1863 and then for 5 years Lieutenant-Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, when he held the local rank of lieutenant general. He was given the colonelcy of the

98th (The Prince of Wales's) Regiment of Foot The 98th (Prince of Wales) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army. It was originally raised in 1824 as the 98th Regiment of Foot, before assuming the title of the 98th (Prince of Wales) Regiment of Foot in 1876. Later, in 1 ...

from 1864 until the regiment merged with the

64th Regiment of Foot The 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was created as the 2nd Battalion, 11th Regiment of Foot in 1756, redesignated as the 64th Regiment of Foot in 1758, and took a county titl ...

in 1881 to form

The Prince of Wales's (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 ...

. He was then colonel of the 2nd Battalion in the new regiment until his death. He was promoted full general on 22 May 1874. A daughter, Ann Penelope Harriet (1852–1927), married Sir

Hugh Low Sir Hugh Low, (10 May 182418 April 1905) was a British colonial administrator and naturalist. After a long residence in various colonial roles in Labuan, he was appointed as British administrator in the Malay Peninsula where he made the first t ...

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, in 1885, and his third son was Sir Arthur Percy Douglas, 5th Baronet, Under-Secretary for Defence, New Zealand. General Robert Percy Douglas died on 30 September 1891 aged 87 at The Hurst, his residence in Bournemouth. A£1 coin featuring the Percy Douglas, a three-masted ship, was issued in his memory.Jersey Coins
/ref> The town of

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

, situated near the confluence of the

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

and

Vaal River The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Oce ...

s in the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...

province of South Africa is named after him.

References

British Army generals Knights Bachelor 1805 births 1891 deaths People educated at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe 29th Regiment of Foot officers

304 Year 304 ( CCCIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. It was known in the Roman Empire as the Year of the Consulship of Diocletian and Maximian (or, less frequently, year 1057 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 304 ...

Governors of Jersey {{UK-noble-stub