British army officer
Brigadier-General
Sir Robert Gilmour, 1st Baronet
,
CB
,
DSO
,
CVO
,
JP
,
DL
(27 February 1857 ? 24 June 1939), born
Robert Wolrige Gordon
(he changed his name in 1887), was a British army officer and Captain of the
Royal Company of Archers
.
Biography
[
edit
]
Robert Gilmour was the eldest son of Henry Perkins Wolrige (1831-1906) and his wife Anne Gordon, 18th of Hallhead and 7th of Esslemont (1827-1874). His father who added the surname Gordon by deed poll was a barrister in law and the son of Col. John Wolrige (1780-1849) of the
Royal Marines
, a descendant of the Old Wolryche Family of
Dudmaston
. His mother Anne Gordon, was a Scottish noblewoman and only daughter and heiress of Maj. Robert Gordon, 17th of Hallhead and 5th of Esslemont (1790-1828). The Gordons of Hallhead are a
cadet branch
of the
Clan Gordon
.
Gilmour joined the
British Army
when he was commissioned a
second lieutenant
in the
Grenadier Guards
on 25 January 1878. He served in the
Anglo-Zulu War
in 1879, was promoted to
lieutenant
on 1 July 1881, and served in the
Sudanese campaign
1884?85. Promotion to
captain
followed on 23 July 1890, and to
major
on 25 August 1896.
[1]
He served in the 2nd Battalion of the regiment in South Africa during the
Second Boer War
1900?1902. For his service in the war, he received the
Distinguished Service Order
(DSO) on 29 November 1900,
[2]
and was appointed a Companion of the
Order of the Bath
(CB) in the October 1902 South African honours list.
[3]
Following his return to the United Kingdom, he was promoted
lieutenant-colonel
on 28 October 1902,
[4]
and appointed in command of the 2nd battalion, Grenadier Guards.
[5]
He served as
Gentleman Usher of the Green Rod
(Order of the Thistle) from 1917 until his death. He was also a
JP
and
DL
.
[6]
He was later a Captain of the
Royal Company of Archers
, and was on 29 July 1926 created a
Baronet
, of Liberton and Craigmillar in the County of Midlothian.
[
citation needed
]
From 1897 to 1938, he served as a member of the ruling council of the influential
Edinburgh
conservationist group the
Cockburn Association
.
[7]
He lived in
Inch House
a large 17th-century house on the south side of Edinburgh.
[8]
He was born Robert Wolrige Gordon in 1857 and added the name surname Gilmour on succeeding to the estates of his great uncle, Walter James Little Gilmour of Craigmillar
(1807-1887).
Family
[
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]
Gilmour married on 19 October 1889 Lady Susan Lygon (24 May 1870 ? 28 January 1962), 2nd daughter of the
6th Earl of Beauchamp
. They had four children:
Lady Susan Gilmour
[
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]
Lady Susan Gilmour (24 May 1870 ? 28 January 1962) was created a
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
in 1936 for services in connection with the Queen's Institute of District Nursing in Scotland. She died in 1962, aged 91.
References
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]