William Gordon Cameron
Sir William Gordon Cameron | |
---|---|
Born | 16 October 1827 Kingdom of France |
Died | 2 March 1913 (aged 85) Christchurch, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | British Army |
Years of service | 1844–1896 |
Rank | General |
Commands held | Northern District Commander of British Troops in China, Hong Kong and the Straits Settlements Cape Colony |
Battles/wars | Crimean War (1854-56) Abyssinian Expedition (1867-68) |
Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath |
Relations | Helen Colebrook Mary Cameron (wife) Colonel Aylmer Cameron VC (brother) |
General Sir William Gordon Cameron GCB (Chinese translated Name: 金馬倫; 16 October 1827 – 2 March 1913) was a British soldier and colonial administrator.
Military career[]
William Gordon Cameron was commissioned into the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot in 1844.[1][2] He transferred to the Grenadier Guards in 1847.[1] In 1854 he was deployed to the Crimean War and took part in the Battle of Alma.[1] He was appointed Commanding Officer of 3rd Regiment of the British German Legion in 1855.[1]
In 1867 he became Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion 4th King's Own Royal Regiment and led the capture of Magdala during the British Expedition to Abyssinia.[1]
In 1875, he became commander of a brigade at Gibraltar and in 1875 of a brigade at Aldershot.[1] In April 1881 he was appointed General Officer Commanding Northern District.[1] Then in 1884 he became Commander of British Troops in China, Hong Kong and the Straits Settlements.[1] He governed Hong Kong in a period between April 1887 to October 1887.[3][4]
He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 5th (West Middlesex) Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps in 1880.[5]
From January 1891 to December 1892 and then again in May to July 1894 he was Administrator of the Cape Colony.[6] He retired in 1895.[1]
Family[]
General Sir William Gordon Cameron was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel William Gordon Cameron J.P. (1790-1856) and his wife Caroline née Edwards (1801-1872), and the elder brother of Colonel Aylmer Cameron VC, who won the Victoria Cross in 1858 during the Indian Mutiny.[7]
He married Helen Colebrooke Mary, daughter of General Sir John Hunter Littler, GCB on 20 January 1857 in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Buckfastleigh, Devon, England.[8]
Memory[]
Several places in Hong Kong were named after Cameron: Cameron Road and Cameron Lane in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, as well as Mount Cameron and Mount Cameron Road.[9]
References[]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i DNW Medal Auction, 30 June 1994. Retrieved 16 February 2020
- ^ "King's Own Museum". Retrieved 16 February 2020.
- ^ "Government Notification No. 165 of 1887" (PDF). The Hong Kong Government Gazette Extraordinary. 25 April 1887.
- ^ Legislative Council Order No.38 Retrieved 16 February 2020
- ^ "No. 24893". The London Gazette. 19 October 1880. p. 5327.
- ^ Cape Colony Administrators
- ^ Obituary of Aylmer Cameron. The Times, 12 June 1909, page 11.
- ^ Walford, Edward (January 1860). The county families of the United Kingdom; or, Royal manual of the titled and untitled aristocracy of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.
- ^ Yanne, Andrew; Heller, Gillis (2009). Signs of a Colonial Era. Hong Kong University Press. pp. 56–57. ISBN 9789622099449.
- 1827 births
- 1913 deaths
- Governors of Hong Kong
- Commanders of Hong Kong
- British Army generals
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
- 42nd Regiment of Foot officers
- Grenadier Guards officers
- British Army personnel of the Crimean War
- British military personnel of the Abyssinian War