Lieutenant General Sir Herbert Eversley Belfield, (25 September 1857 – 19 April 1934) was a British Army officer who commanded the 4th Division from 1907 to 1911.

Military career

Belfield was born in

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

, the son of Capt. William Belfield. Educated at Wellington College,Anglo-Boer War
/ref> Belfield was commissioned into the Royal Munster Fusiliers in 1876. He was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 20 May 1885, and to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

on 1 February 1893. He took part in the Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War in 1895, and was promoted to

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

on 25 March 1896 and to colonel on 18 December 1899. With the outbreak of the Second Boer War (1899–1902), he was appointed Inspector General of the Imperial Yeomanry and Assistant Adjutant General to Lieutenant General

Lord Methuen Baron Methuen, of Corsham in the County of Wiltshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1838 for the former Member of Parliament for Wiltshire and Wiltshire North, Paul Methuen. His grandson, the third Baron (who ...

.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> From January 1902 he held the local rank of brigadier general on the Staff in South Africa. He was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

on 23 June 1902 by Lord Kitchener, Commander-in-Chief in South Africa during the latter part of the war, and returned home in the ''SS Kinfauns Castle'' leaving Cape Town in early August 1902, after the war had ended. For his service in the early part of the war he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the April 1901 South Africa Honours list (the award was dated to 29 November 1900; he only received the actual decoration from King Edward VII at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

on 24 October 1902). He was further awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in the October 1902 South Africa Honours list. Belfield was appointed Assistant Adjutant-General for 1st Army Corps on 11 December 1902, Commander of 4th Infantry Brigade in 1903 and General Officer Commanding 4th Division in 1907Army Commands
before retiring in 1914. He was also Colonel of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment from 1909 to 1914. In retirement Belfield became Director of Prisoner of war work, negotiating prisoner exchanges and improvements in the treatment of prisoners throughout the First World War. There is a chair dedicated to his memory at York Minster Stoneyard.Belfield chair from York Minster chapel found in attic of stoneyard
York Press, 17 February 2011

Family

In 1882, he married Emily Mary Binney, eldest daughter of Rev. Hibbert Binney, the Bishop of Nova Scotia; she died a year later. In 1888, he married Evelyn Mary Taylor; they had two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belfield, Herbert 1857 births 1934 deaths British Army lieutenant generals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Royal Munster Fusiliers officers British military personnel of the Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Military personnel from Kent