George Macaulay Kirkpatrick

General Sir George Macaulay Kirkpatrick KCB KCSI (23 August 1866 – 6 February 1950) was a Canadian soldier who served with the British Army in South Africa, Canada, India, Australia, and China. He became one of only a handful of Canadians to reach the rank of full General.[1]

Sir George Kirkpatrick
Birth nameGeorge Macaulay Kirkpatrick
Born23 August 1866
Kingston, Ontario
Died6 February 1950(1950-02-06) (aged 83)[1]
London, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1885–1930
RankGeneral
Commands heldBritish Forces in China
Western Command, India
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India
CB

Education

Kirkpatrick was born on 23 August 1866 to the politician Sir George Airey Kirkpatrick (1841–1899) and Frances June Macaulay of Kingston, Ontario. He was educated at Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario and at the Haileybury and Imperial Service College in London. He returned to Ontario to attend the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston from 1882 to 1885.[1] As a surveyor in 1892, he authored topographic maps of the Town and environs of the Fez Region of Morocco.[2]

Military service

Kirkpatrick was commissioned into the Royal Engineers as a lieutenant on 30 June 1885.[3] He was appointed Aide-de-camp to the General Officer Commanding, Thames District in 1892, and promoted to captain on 12 December 1894.[4] He was deployed as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General (Intelligence) during the Second Boer War,[3] and received the brevet rank of major on 29 November 1900. Following the end of the war in June 1902, he left Cape Town on the SS Canada and returned to Southampton in late July.[5] He served in Halifax, Nova Scotia as Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General for Intelligence from September 1902,[6] and received the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel on 22 August 1902.[7] Two years later he became Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General at Headquarters of the Army in 1904.[3] He went on to be Assistant Quartermaster General at Headquarters, India in 1906 and Inspector General of the Military Forces of Australia in 1910.[3] He served in World War I as Director of Military Operations in India from 1914 to 1916 when he became Chief of the General Staff in India.[3]

He subsequently served as Commander of British Forces in China from 1921 to 1922 and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, India from 1923 to 1927.[3] He retired in 1930.[3]

Honours

Kirkpatrick was twice mentioned in despatches in 1902. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1911. He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India (KCSI) in 1917 and a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1918.[1]

Family
George Airey Kirkpatrick

In 1896, Kirkpatrick married artist Mary Lydia Dennistoun (1870-1945).[8] They had three daughters, Georgina Helen (born 1898) and Kathleen Mary (born 1899) in Malta, and Margaret Charlotte (born 1904) in Canada, mother of Iain Tennant.

References
  1. "Obituary: General Sir George Kirkpatrick". The Times. 8 February 1950. p. 9.
  2. George Macaulay Kirkpatrick, Sir; Town and environs of Fez Region of Morocco Ordnance Survey. Southampton, [England] : photozincographed at Ordnance Survey Office, 1892.
  3. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  4. Hart's Army list, 1903
  5. "The Army in South Africa – Troops returning home". The Times. No. 36821. London. 16 July 1902. p. 11.
  6. "No. 27486". The London Gazette. 21 October 1902. p. 6652.
  7. "No. 27490". The London Gazette. 31 October 1902. p. 6900.
  8. McMann, Evelyn de Rostaing (1997). Royal Canadian Academy of Arts/Académie royale des arts du Canada exhibitions and members, 1880-1979. University of Toronto Press. p. 223. ISBN 9780802041395. Retrieved 18 May 2019.

Sources
  • 4237 Dr. Adrian Preston & Peter Dennis (Edited) "Swords and Covenants" Rowman And Littlefield, London. Croom Helm. 1976.
  • H16511 Dr. Richard Arthur Preston "To Serve Canada: A History of the Royal Military College of Canada" 1997 Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1969.
  • H16511 Dr. Richard Arthur Preston "Canada's RMC – A History of Royal Military College" Second Edition 1982
  • H1877 R. Guy C. Smith (editor) "As You Were! Ex-Cadets Remember". In 2 Volumes. Volume I: 1876–1918. Volume II: 1919–1984. Royal Military College. [Kingston]. The R.M.C. Club of Canada. 1984
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