Michael Biddulph (British Army officer)

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Sir Michael Biddulph
Anthony Shrapnel Biddulph Vanity Fair 21 November 1891.jpg
General Sir Michael Biddulph by Spy
Born30 July 1823
Died23 July 1904 (1904-07-24) (aged 80)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branchFlag of the British Army.svg British Army
Years of service1843–1890
RankGeneral
Battles/warsCrimean War
Second Anglo-Afghan War
AwardsOrder of the Bath:
*Knight Grand Cross (1895);[1]
*Knight Commander (1879);[2]
*Companion (1873)[3]
Order of the Medjidie, fifth class (Turkey) (1858)[4]
Chevalier of the Legion of Honour (France) (1857)[5]
Royal Humane Society silver medal, (1842)[3]

General Sir Michael Anthony Shrapnel Biddulph GCB (30 July 1823 – 23 July 1904) was a British Army officer who became Black Rod, a parliamentary official.

Military career[]

Educated at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Biddulph was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1843.[6] He served in the Crimean War taking part in the Battles of Alma, Balaclava and Inkerman as well as the Siege of Sevastopol.[6] Posted to India in 1861, he was appointed Deputy Adjutant-General of Artillery in India in 1868, and was promoted major-general in 1869.[3]

In 1875, he was made commander of the Rohilkhand district, and in 1878 moved to command the garrison at Quetta, near the Afghanistan border.[6] When the Second Afghan War became imminent, he established a base for operations in southern Afghanistan, taking command of the 2nd division of the Kandahar Field Force when war broke out in November 1878. His division advanced into Afghanistan, and Biddulph was present when Kandahar was occupied in January 1879. He returned to India later that month in command of the Thal-Chotiali Field Force. In 1880, he was given command of the Rawalpindi district in India[3] and, after promotion to general in 1886,[7] he served as President of the Ordnance Committee from 1887 until retirement in 1890.[3]

In retirement he served as Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod from 1896 to 1904[8] and was an Extra Groom in Waiting to King Edward VII from 1901 to 1904.[9] He also took to watercolour painting.[10]

Biddulph died on 23 July 1904 aged 80, and is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery.[11]

Family[]

In 1857 he married Katharine Stamati,[6] and the couple had five sons and five daughters.[3]

External links[]

References[]

  1. ^ "No. 26628". The London Gazette. 25 May 1895. p. 3079.
  2. ^ "No. 24747". The London Gazette. 29 July 1879. p. 4697.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Biddulph, Sir Michael Anthony Shrapnel". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2011. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31878. Retrieved 4 September 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ^ "No. 22107". The London Gazette. 2 March 1858. p. 1257.
  5. ^ "No. 21996". The London Gazette. 1 May 1857. p. 1575.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Men of the Time, eleventh edition
  7. ^ "No. 25647". The London Gazette. 23 November 1886. p. 5687.
  8. ^ "Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  9. ^ "No. 27363". The London Gazette. 8 October 1901. p. 6569.
  10. ^ "Michael Anthony Shrapnel Biddulph". Invaluable. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  11. ^ "Kensal Green Cemetery". Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
Government offices
Preceded by
Sir James Drummond 		Black Rod
1895–1904 		Succeeded by
Sir Henry Stephenson
Retrieved from ""