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 John St. George (18 January 1812 – 17 March 1891) was a British Army officer.

Military career

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 ...

, John St. George was commissioned into the

Royal Regiment of 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 1828. He was decorated for his conduct during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

, where he commanded the siege train at the fall of

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

in 1855. From 1859 to 1869 he was successively President of the Ordnance Committee and then Director of Ordnance at the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

. He was

Master Gunner, St. James's Park The Master Gunner St James’s Park’s appointment goes back to 1678 and has generally been held by a senior officer in the Royal Artillery. The early incumbents (known then as the Master Gunner of Whitehall & St James's Park) were responsible f ...

, the ceremonial head of the

from 1884 to 1891, and was appointed Colonel Commandant of the 21st and 26th (Royal Arsenal) Kent Rifle Volunteer Corps in 1864. He is buried in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Estab ...

, London.

Ancestry

He was born on 18 January 1812, the eldest son of Lieutenant-colonel John St. George of Parkfield, Birkenhead, by Frances, daughter of Archibald Campbell, M.D. His coat of arms was painted in watercolours and is blazoned as: Lt Gen Sir John St. George KC – Arms: Quarterly of six, 1st Argent a chief Azure overall a lion rampant Gules ducally crowned Or (St. George), 2nd Argent a cross flory Sable (St. George ancient), 3rd Gules three covered cups Or (Argentine), 4th Argent a fess between six annulets Gules (Avenel), 5th Azure a fess dancetty between six escallops Or (Engaine), 6th Argent a sun of sixteen points Gules (Delahay). Crest: A demi lion rampant gules ducally crowned Or armed and langued Azure. Motto: Firmitas in Coelo (Stability in Heaven).

Family

In 1860 he married Elizabeth Marianne Evans (b. 1829, bapt. 5 April 1829 in Selsey, Sussex),Elizabeth M St George K C B in the 1871 England Census
accessed via ancestry.com paid subscription site on 31 July 2020. daughter of Thomas Evans, esquire (b. about 1795 in Hampreston, Dorset) and his wife Margaret Harris (m. 16 Feb 1819 in St Marylebone Parish, Middlesex). Their son, Capt. Baldwin John St George KCB (16 Feb 1862 in

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

, Middlesex – 6 November 1912 in Worcester, Worcestershire), married Susan Sybil Staplehurst (1862 in Maresfield or Uckfield, Sussex – 13 September 1939 in Worcestershire), daughter of George Staplehurst, on 13 July 1894 at Holy Trinity, Brompton, Kensington and Chelsea, England.Baldwin John St George in the London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932
London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: p84/tri2/022. Accessed via ancestry.com paid subscription site on 31 July 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George, John 1812 births 1891 deaths Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Burials at Brompton Cemetery Royal Artillery officers British Army generals British Army personnel of the Crimean War