Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Arthur George Ferguson

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(22 June 1862 – 14 February 1935) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer and police officer, who served as His Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland.

Family

Ferguson was the eldest son of Lieutenant-Colonel George Arthur Ferguson (1835–1924), the sixth

Laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

of Pitfour, a large estate in the

Buchan Buchan is an area of north-east Scotland, historically one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It is now one of the six committee areas and administrative areas of Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland. These areas were created by th ...

area of

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

, north east

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. His mother was Nina Maria Hood, who was the eldest daughter of

Alexander Nelson Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport General Alexander Nelson Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport, 4th Duke of Bronte, (23 December 1814 – 4 June 1904) of Cumberland Lodge, Windsor, of Cricket St Thomas in Somerset and of 12 Wimpole Street, London, was a British soldier and courtier. ...

. Buchan (2008): p. 48

Career and early life

Ferguson was born in Canada while his father was posted overseas, but the family returned to Britain in 1864 and initially lived in London. He went to

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

in 1876 and was then commissioned into the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

, Buchan (2008): p. 51 in which he served for 22 years. He saw active service in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

. He achieved the rank of Major in February 1901 after which, in October that year, he returned to his father's estate at Pitfour. He married Janet Norah Baird (1878-1943), a daughter of Sir Alexander Baird, in London in 1902. Buchan (2008): p. 52 In 1904 he was appointed His Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland and served in this role until 1927, although he rejoined the Army during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the 1920 civilian war honours and Knight Bachelor, knighted on his retirement in 1927. He died at the age of 72. His son, Angus Arthur Ferguson (born 1903), also became a police officer, eventually serving as Chief Constable of Northamptonshire from 1931.

Footnotes

References

*Obituary, ''The Times'', 15 February 1935

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Arthur 1862 births 1935 deaths category:Officers in Scottish police forces People from Perth and Kinross Military personnel from London People educated at Eton College Rifle Brigade officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Scottish police officers Knights Bachelor Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British Army personnel of World War I Chief Inspectors of Constabulary (Scotland) People from London