Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Eric Richard Thesiger DSO, TD (17 February 1874 – 2 October 1961),[1] styled The Honourable from 1878, was a British soldier and page to Queen Victoria.

Background

Born in London in February 1874,[2] Thesiger was the fourth son of Frederic Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford and his wife Adria Fanny Heath, daughter of Major-General John Coussamker Heath.[3] His older brothers were Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford and the diplomat Wilfred Gilbert Thesiger.[3] Thesiger was educated at Winchester College and in 1884, he was nominated Page of Honour to the Queen, a post he fulfilled for the following six years.[4] In 1893, he became a Staff Commissioner of Police.[4]

Career

Thesiger joined the Imperial Yeomanry as a private during the Second Boer War,[5] when he was appointed a lieutenant of the 15th Battalion (Imperial Yeomanry) on 29 November 1900.[6] On 1 November 1901 he was promoted to captain in the battalion, with the temporary rank of captain in the Army.[7] He stayed in South Africa until the war ended in June 1902, left Port Elizabeth for Southampton on the SS Colombian the following month,[8] and relinquished his commission in the Imperial Yeomanry on 3 September 1902, when he was granted the honorary rank of captain in the Army.[9] In late 1902 he became a second lieutenant of the Surrey Yeomanry.[10] He was transferred as major from the Yeomanry into the Territorial Force in 1908.[11] In the First World War Thesiger was wounded twice and was mentioned in despatches as many times.[4]

He was appointed to the 10th Battalion, Royal West Surrey Regiment in 1917,[12] commanding it until 1918, and subsequently the 10th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment for another year.[13] In March of the latter year, he was decorated with the Distinguished Service Order (DSO)[14] and in August, he received the Territorial Decoration (TD).[15] He was made an Officer of the Order of the Crown of Belgium and also awarded the Belgian Croix de guerre in October[16] and some days later, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel.[17]

He retired from the Territorial Army in 1929, having reached the age limit.[18]

Family

On 29 October 1904, he married firstly Pearl Marie Coupland, only daughter of John Coupland, and had by her a daughter and two sons.[1] She died in 1922, and Thesiger remarried Sydney Hilda Hutton-Croft, daughter of George Arthur Hutton-Croft on 3 October 1929, but she died only a year later.[1] He married thirdly Mary Pudsey, daughter of Reverend F. W. Pudsey, on 27 March 1953.[1] His third wife sadly also died the next year, and Thesiger survived her until 1961.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "ThePeerage – Lt-Col Eric Richard Thesiger". Retrieved 25 March 2007.
  2. ↑ "Life story: Hon. Eric Richard Thesiger | Lives of the First World War".
  3. 1 2 Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1929). Armorial Families. Vol. II. London: Hurst & Blackett. p. 1917.
  4. 1 2 3 Who Is Who 1935. London: A. & C. Black Ltd. 1935. p. 3340.
  5. ↑ Whitaker's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companioage. J. Whitaker & Sons. 1923. p. 193.
  6. ↑ "No. 27251". The London Gazette. 27 November 1900. p. 7823.
  7. ↑ "No. 27385". The London Gazette. 10 December 1901. p. 8717.
  8. ↑ "The Army in South Africa – Troops returning home". The Times. No. 36821. London. 16 July 1902. p. 11.
  9. ↑ "No. 27474". The London Gazette. 16 September 1902. p. 5960.
  10. ↑ "No. 27513". The London Gazette. 6 September 1903. p. 112.
  11. ↑ "No. 28159". The London Gazette. 17 July 1908. p. 5222.
  12. ↑ "No. 30584". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 March 1918. p. 3449.
  13. ↑ "No. 31428". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 July 1919. p. 8314.
  14. ↑ "No. 31435". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 July 1919. p. 8505.
  15. ↑ "No. 31511". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 August 1919. p. 10551.
  16. ↑ "No. 31615". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 October 1919. p. 12996.
  17. ↑ "No. 31626". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 October 1919. p. 13406.
  18. ↑ "No. 33470". The London Gazette. 26 February 1929. p. 1348.
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