Gerald Archibald Arbuthnot (19 December 1872 – 25 September 1916) was a British soldier and
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
politician.
Early life
The son of
Major General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
William Arbuthnot and Selina Moncreiffe, he was vice-chancellor of the
Primrose League
The Primrose League was an organisation for spreading Conservative principles in Great Britain. It was founded in 1883.
At a late point in its existence, its declared aims (published in the ''Primrose League Gazette'', vol. 83, no. 2, March/April ...
.
Political career
Arbuthnot was private secretary to the
Board of Agriculture from 1895 to 1899, assistant private secretary to the
President of the Local Government Board The President of the Local Government Board was a ministerial post, frequently a Cabinet position, in the United Kingdom, established in 1871. The Local Government Board itself was established in 1871 and took over supervisory functions from the Bo ...
in 1901 and 1902 and assistant private secretary to the
Chief Secretary for Ireland
The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant", from the early 19th century un ...
in 1905 and 1906. Between January and December 1910, he was
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) for
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
.
Military service
In 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 served in the
Grenadier Guards
"Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it."
, colors =
, colors_label =
, march = Slow: " Scipio"
, mascot =
, equipment =
, equipment ...
and reached the rank of
second lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
, having been made a
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
in the service of the
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a cit ...
already in 1914. He fought in the
Battle of Ypres
The Battle of Ypres was a series of engagements during the First World War, near the Belgian city of Ypres, between the German and the Allied armies (Belgian, French, British Expeditionary Force and Canadian Expeditionary Force). During the five ...
. Arbuthnot died aged 43, killed in action during the
Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...
.
[ He was buried at Citadel New Military Cemetery, ]Fricourt
Fricourt () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Geography
Fricourt is situated on the D147 and D64 junction, some northeast of Amiens.
History
Fricourt is about a kilometre from Mametz. It was close to ...
. In November 2018, Arbuthnot's name was added to the UK Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...
's World War One memorial, after a historian at the History of Parliament Trust
The History of Parliament is a project to write a complete history of the United Kingdom Parliament and its predecessors, the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of England. The history will principally consist of a prosopography, in ...
noticed his name was missing.[
]
Personal life
He married (Mary Johanna) Dulcie Antoinette Oppenheim, daughter of Charles Augustus Oppenheim, on 6 February 1894. They had three daughters, one of whom, Cynthia Isabelle Theresa, married rower and financier Ian Fairbairn
Stephen Ian Fairbairn (14 April 18965 December 1968) was a British financier and rower who competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics, and later rose to the position of chairman of the M&G fund management company.
Personal life
Fairbairn was the son ...
.
One of Arbuthnot's descendants, James Arbuthnot
James Norwich Arbuthnot, Baron Arbuthnot of Edrom, (born 4 August 1952), is a British Conservative Party politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Wanstead and Woodford from 1987 to 1997, and then MP for North East Hampshire from 19 ...
, served as Member of Parliament for Wanstead and Woodford from 1987 to 1997, and for North East Hampshire
North East Hampshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Ranil Jayawardena, a Conservative who has served as Environment Secretary since 2022.
History
The constituency was created in 1997 from parts of t ...
from 1997 to 2015.[
]
References
*
*
External links
*
*
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
*
1872 births
1916 deaths
Burials in Hauts-de-France
Gerald Archibald Arbuthnott
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 1910
Grenadier Guards officers
Royal Navy officers of World War I
Civil servants in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Civil servants in the Local Government Board
Civil servants in Ireland (1801–1922)
Private secretaries in the British Civil Service
British Army personnel of World War I
British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme
Politics of Burnley
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I
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