General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Sir Charles Patton Keyes, (25 November 1822 – 5 February 1896) was a

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

officer.

Career

He was commissioned into the 30th Madras Native Infantry in 1843, and was promoted to the rank of captain in 1858. He served as commanding officer of the

1st Punjab Infantry The 55th Coke's Rifles (Frontier Force) was a regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1849 as the 1st Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 55th Coke's Rifles (Frontier Force) in 1903 and became 1st Battalion (Coke' ...

Queen's Own Corps of Guides The Corps of Guides was a regiment of the British Indian Army made up of British officers and Indian enlisted soldiers to serve on the North West Frontier. As originally raised in 1846, The Guides consisted of infantry and cavalry. It evolve ...

, Punjab Field Force and the

9th (Secunderabad) Division The 9th (Secunderabad) Division was an infantry division formation of the British Indian Army. It was part of the Southern Army and was formed in 1904 after Lord Kitchener was appointed Commander-in-Chief, India between 1902 and 1909. He i ...

. He latterly served with the

Indian Staff Corps The Indian Staff Corps was a branch of the British Indian Army, Indian Army during the British Raj. Separate Staff Corps were formed in 1861 for the Bengal Army, Bengal, Madras Army, Madras and Bombay Army, Bombay Armies, which were later combined ...

. Keyes was promoted to major-general in 1881 and General in 1889. He was made

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...

in the

1891 Birthday Honours The 1891 Birthday Honours were appointments by Queen Victoria to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The Queen, and we ...

. In retirement he held the office of

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Kent.

Family

Keyes was the son of Thomas Keyes and Mary Anne Patton. He married Katherine Jessie Norman, daughter of Sir James Norman (and sister of

Henry Wylie Norman Field Marshal Sir Henry Wylie Norman, (2 December 1826 – 26 October 1904) was a senior Indian Army officer and colonial administrator. He served in the Second Anglo-Sikh War, the campaign against the Kohat Pass Afridis, the suppression of the ...

), on 12 January 1870. Together they had nine children: *Katherine Mary Keyes (died July 1956) *Phyllis Marion Keyes (died 1 May 1968) *Norman Keyes *Admiral

Roger John Brownlow Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes Admiral of the Fleet Roger John Brownlow Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes, (4 October 1872 – 26 December 1945) was a British naval officer. As a junior officer he served in a corvette operating from Zanzibar on slavery suppression missions. Ea ...

(4 October 1872 – 26 December 1945), father of

Geoffrey Keyes Lieutenant General Geoffrey Keyes (October 30, 1888 – September 17, 1967) was a highly decorated senior United States Army officer who served with distinction in Sicily and Italy during World War II. Early life Keyes was born on October 30, ...

*Dorothea Agnes Keyes (8 July 1874 – 2 April 1962) *Charles Valentine Keyes (14 February 1876 – 1901) * Sir Terence Humphrey Keyes (28 May 1877 – 26 February 1939) *Adrian St. Vincent Keyes (19 December 1882 – 6 October 1926) *Madeline Helen Keyes (1886-25 April 1964) Following her husband's death, Lady Keyes was in 1902 granted use of a set of apartments in Clock Tower,

Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...

, by King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keyes, Charles Patton 1822 births 1896 deaths British Indian Army generals Indian Staff Corps officers English justices of the peace Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath