Brigadier-General Sir Douglas Frederick Rawdon Dawson (25 April 1854 – 20 January 1933) 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 ...

general officer and courtier.

Background and education

Dawson was the second son of the Hon. Thomas Vesey Dawson, an officer of the Coldstream Guards who was killed at the

Battle of Inkerman The Battle of Inkerman was fought during the Crimean War on 5 November 1854 between the allied armies of Britain and France against the Imperial Russian Army. The battle broke the will of the Russian Army to defeat the allies in the field, an ...

.Image
National Portrait Gallery
npg.org.uk. Accessed 23 November 2022. His paternal grandfather was

Richard Thomas Dawson, 2nd Baron Cremorne Richard Thomas Dawson, 2nd Baron Cremorne (31 August 1788 – 21 March 1827) was an Irish peer. Biography The only son of Richard Dawson of Dawson Grove, in 1807 he succeeded his father as heir-presumptive to his great-uncle Thomas Dawson, 1st ...

. His elder brother,

Vesey Vesey is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Agmondisham Vesey (1677-1739) Irish landowner and politician * Agmondesham Vesey (1708-85) Irish politician and amateur architect * Denmark Vesey (c. 1767–1822), American reb ...

, was also a British Army officer. He attended

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, ...

, and then joined the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

in 1874, attending the

Staff College Staff colleges (also command and staff colleges and War colleges) train military officers in the administrative, military staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career. For e ...

in 1881.

Military career

Dawson saw service with the Egyptian Campaign of 1882, where he fought at the battles of Mahuta,

Kassassin Kassassin ( ar, القصاصين) is a village of Lower Egypt by rail west of Ismailia, a major city on the Suez Canal. Battle of Kassassin Lock At the Sweet Water Canal, on August 28, 1882 the British force was attacked by the Egyptians, l ...

, Tel el-Kebir and the capture of Cairo. In the Nile Expedition of 1884–85, he was part of the Guards' Camel Corps, was mentioned in despatches, and saw action at the

Battle of Abu Klea The Battle of Abu Klea, or the Battle of Abu Tulayh took place between the dates of 16 and 18 January 1885, at Abu Klea, Sudan, between the British Desert Column and Mahdist forces encamped near Abu Klea. The Desert Column, a force of approxim ...

. He was then appointed a Military Attaché from 1895 to 1901, posted to Austria-Hungary, Serbia, France, Belgium and Switzerland, before returning to the United Kingdom in March 1902 to command the 10th Provisional Battalion stationed at Dover The following year he was appointed

Master of the Ceremonies The office of Master of the Ceremonies was established by King James VI and I. The Master's duties were to receive foreign dignitaries and present them to the monarch at court. Below is a list of known holders until the replacement of the office ...

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 a ...

, serving from 1903 to 1907 and then as a Comptroller in the Lord Chamberlain's Department. On the outbreak of 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 received an appointment as Assistant Director of Personal Services at the War Office from 1914 to 1915, and was appointed Inspector of Vulnerable Points at GHQ from 1916 to 1919, in which role he was again mentioned in despatches. After the War, in 1920, he resigned his position as Comptroller and was appointed State Chamberlain, holding the office until 1924.

Awards and honours

Partly as a result of his diplomatic career, he held a number of foreign decorations, including the Iron Crown of Austria (Knight Commander); the Turkish

Order of Medjidie Order of the Medjidie ( ota, نشانِ مجیدی, August 29, 1852 – 1922) is a military and civilian order of the Ottoman Empire. The Order was instituted in 1851 by Sultan Abdulmejid I. History Instituted in 1851, the Order was awarded in fi ...

(3rd class); the Danish

Order of Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known ...

(Grand Cross); the Japanese Grand Cross Sacred Treasure and Grand Cross Rising Sun; the

Grand Cross of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( it, Ordine della Corona d'Italia, italic=no or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for civi ...

; and the Grand Cross of the Crown of Romania. He served as the Registrar and Secretary to the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

, and the Secretary to the Order of the Garter.

Personal life

He married Aimée Evelyn Pirie, formerly Mrs Oakley, in 1903, who was appointed

Dame Grand Cross 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 ...

in 1918. Sir Douglas and Lady Aimée Dawson lived at

Medmenham Abbey Medmenham () is a village and civil parish in south-west Buckinghamshire, England. It is on the River Thames, about southwest of Marlow and east of Henley-on-Thames. The parish also includes Danesfield, a housing estate predominantly for RAF ...

in Buckinghamshire. Their adopted daughter, Rosemary, married Lieutenant-Colonel

Vernon Erskine-Crum Lieutenant-General Vernon Forbes Erskine-Crum, CIE, MC (11 December 1918 – 17 March 1971) was a British Army officer, who briefly served as general officer commanding in Northern Ireland during the early period of the Troubles. Regimental ...

; the couple had one son, Brigadier Douglas Erskine Crum. Dame Aimée Evelyn Dawson died on 24 December 1946, aged 82, at Oxfordshire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, Douglas 1854 births 1933 deaths People educated at Eton College Coldstream Guards officers

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...

Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George British Army personnel of the Anglo-Egyptian War British Army personnel of the Mahdist War British Army generals of World War I Military personnel from Buckinghamshire Place of birth missing Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Place of death missing British military attachés British Army brigadiers