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 ...

Sir John Ramsay Slade (16 March 1843 – 4 September 1913) 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 who became General Officer Commanding the

British Troops in Egypt British Troops in Egypt was a command of the British Army. History A British Army commander was appointed in the late 19th century after the Anglo-Egyptian War in 1882. The British Army remained in Egypt throughout the First World War and, after t ...

Early life and education

Slade was born at Berwick House in

Berwick St Leonard Berwick St Leonard is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about southeast of Warminster and west of Salisbury. Geography A small stream rises near that village and flows intermittently, under wet conditions. Soon after le ...

, Wiltshire, into a distinguished military family, the eldest of four sons of Lieutenant-General

Marcus Slade Lieutenant General Marcus John Slade (22 January 1801 – 7 March 1872) was a British Army officer who became Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey. Early life Slade was the fourth son of General Sir John Slade, 1st Baronet (1762–1853) and the y ...

and his wife, Charlotte Ramsay. He was the grandson of General

Sir John Slade, 1st Baronet General Sir John "Black Jack" Slade, 1st Baronet, (31 December 1762 – 13 August 1859) served as a general officer in the British Army during the Peninsular War. Slade was praised in official reports, including by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke ...

and great-grandson of George Ramsay, 8th Earl of Dalhousie, and nephew of Admiral Sir

Adolphus Slade Admiral Sir Adolphus Slade CB (1804 – 13 November 1877) was a British admiral who became an admiral in the Ottoman Navy. While in Ottoman service he was known as Mushaver (Inspector) Pasha He was the fifth son of General Sir John Slade. C ...

. He survived his three younger brothers. Arthur Maitland Slade (27 November 1846 – 1847) died in childhood, while Maj. Montagu Maule Slade (16 January 1849 – 29 February 1884) was killed in action in the Second Battle of Teb while serving with the

10th Hussars The 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 11th Hussars (Prince ...

. His youngest brother, Lt.-Gen. Frederick George Slade (15 December 1851 – 16 August 1910) served in multiple campaigns in the late 19th century and was Inspector-General of the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

headquarters 1902–1906. He was educated at the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

Military career

Slade was commissioned into the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1861. After taking part in the Bazaar Valley Expedition in 1878, he commanded a battery at the

Battle of Maiwand The Battle of Maiwand (Dari: نبرد میوند, Pashto: د ميوند جگړه), fought on 27 July 1880, was one of the principal battles of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Under the leadership of Ayub Khan, the Afghan forces defeated a much sma ...

in July 1880 during the

Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the l ...

. He served as a staff officer during the

First Boer War The First Boer War ( af, Eerste Vryheidsoorlog, literally "First Freedom War"), 1880–1881, also known as the First Anglo–Boer War, the Transvaal War or the Transvaal Rebellion, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881 betwee ...

and then became military

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accor ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1887. He also served as a staff officer assisting General

Antonio Baldissera Antonio Baldissera (Padua, 27 May 1838 – Florence, 8 January 1917) was an Italian general, active in the Ethiopian Empire (Abyssinia) and in Italian Eritrea during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Biography Baldissera was born at Padu ...

during the

First Italo-Ethiopian War The First Italo-Ethiopian War, lit. ''Abyssinian War'' was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from 1895 to 1896. It originated from the disputed Treaty of Wuchale, which the Italians claimed turned Ethiopia into an Italian protectorate. Full-sc ...

before becoming General Officer Commanding the

in 1903.

Personal life

Slade was twice married. In 1871, he married Lucía Amelia Aurora di Ramos (21 October 1872), daughter of Señor ''Don'' Vincente di Ramos in Marín, of

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. She died days after giving birth to their son, Victor Marcus (16 October 1872 – 21 January 1873), who died in infancy. In 1882, he married secondly, Janet Little Wood, daughter of Maj.-Gen. Robert Blucher Wood and Lady Constantia Lowther. Lady Constantia was the daughter of Col Hon

Henry Cecil Lowther Colonel Henry Cecil Lowther, DL, JP (27 July 1790 – 6 December 1867) was an English Conservative politician and an amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1819 to 1843. His long service in the House of Commons saw him becom ...

(son of the 1st Earl of Lonsdale) and Lady Lucy Sherard (daughter of Philipp Sherard, 5th Earl of Harborough). They had one daughter, Lucia Slade Marling – named after his late first wife – who married Sir

Charles Murray Marling Sir Charles Murray Marling (3 December 1862 – 17 February 1933) was a British diplomat. Early life Marling was born on 3 December 1862 in the village of King's Stanley near Stroud, Gloucestershire, the second son of Sir William Marling, 2nd B ...

. Slade was baptised into the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

shortly after his birth and again at aged 2, but later converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slade, John Ramsay 1843 births 1913 deaths People from Wiltshire British Army generals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath English Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism Military personnel from Wiltshire Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich