General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Sir Reginald John Thoroton Hildyard, (11 December 1876 – 29 September 1965) 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 saw active service in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

and 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 was

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and Commander-in-Chief of

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

from 1936 to 1939.

Early life

The third son of General Sir Henry Hildyard, by his marriage to Annette, the daughter of Admiral

James Charles Prevost James Charles Prevost (1810–1891) was an admiral in the British Royal Navy. He was born in Bedhampton, Hampshire, England, the son of Rear-Admiral James Prevost and his first wife France née Haultain, and joined the navy in 1823 and by 1850 ...

, Hildyard's brothers were Harold Charles Thoroton Hildyard (born 1872) and Gerald Moresby Thoroton Hildyard (1874–1956). He also had one sister, Edith Mary Thoroton Hildyard., Retrieved 8 February 2011

Military career

Hildyard was commissioned into The

Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Queen' ...

in 1896. He was promoted captain in 1904, major in 1915,

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

in 1919,

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 ...

in 1929,

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

in 1934, and

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

in 1938.'HILDYARD, Gen. Sir Reginald John Thoroton', in ''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'' (London: A. & C. Black, 1920–2008)
online ed.
by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, December 2007, Retrieved 15 February 2011 Hildyard served in South Africa during the

of 1899–1902, receiving the Queen's Medal with four clasps and the King's Medal with two clasps; from 1900 to 1903 he was employed with the

South African Constabulary The South African Constabulary (SAC) was a paramilitary force set up in 1900 under British Army control to police areas captured from the two independent Boer republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State during the Second Boer War. Its firs ...

and served as Aide-de-camp (ADC) to the lieutenant general commanding in South Africa, from 1904 to 1905, then as ADC to the General Officer Commanding, Africa, from 1905 to 1908. He was a General Staff Officer (3rd grade) 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 ...

from 1911 to 1913, then Brigade-Major in the Southern Command, 1913 to 1914, and passed the Staff College. He served in the

of 1914–1918, was seven times mentioned in despatches, and was appointed a Companion of the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

and a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George. He was also appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1928 and appointed to command the 2nd Rhine Brigade later that year. He served as General Officer Commanding the

43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division The 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division was an infantry division of Britain's Territorial Army (TA). The division was first formed in 1908, as the Wessex Division. During the First World War, it was broken-up and never served as a complete forma ...

, Territorial Army, from 1930 to 1934, and was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as o ...

in 1936.

Governor of Bermuda

From 1936 to 1939, Hildyard was Governor and Commander-in-Chief of

. He retired the service in 1939. Hildyard promoted the Bermuda Government's plans to establish birth control clinics on the island in order to "check the growth of the Negro population," because they represented "the biggest problem" of the "Colony's major difficulties
online archive
The 1939 census recorded 3,098 coloured, 124 white, and 64 Portuguese persons of ''illegitimate'' birth. Bermuda's population was undergoing rapid and accelerating growth at the time, with fears that it had already passed a sustainable level. In 1699, ninety years after settlement began, the population had been 5,862; by 1811 it had been 10,180; by 1871 it had been 12,101; by 1911 it had been 18,994; by 1931 it had been 27,789, and by 1939 was 30,799. This was partly down to high birth rates, which, as elsewhere in the world, were highest amongst the least affluent and privileged, who in Bermuda were disproportionately coloured (which, in Bermuda, designated anyone not entirely of European ancestry). There was also a long history of white fears over the changing ratio of coloured to white Bermudians, which had resulted in official barriers being placed against the immigration of free coloured people and the discouragement of the importation of enslaved coloured people (which had included Native Americans during the Seventeenth Century). Efforts had also repeatedly been made to compel the emigration of free, and to encourage the export of enslaved, coloured Bermudians. As coloured Bermudians lived cheek-by-jowl with the white, the different sub-groups of the population inevitably blended together. Although whites started with a clear majority, with every child of a coloured and a white parent added to the coloured total instead of the white, the coloured to population consequently grew faster, making up 2,247 of Bermuda's population of 5,862 in 1699, 4,919 of the 10,381 total in 1783, 5,596 of 9,930 in 1843, 12,303 of 18,994 in 1911, 16,436 of 27,789 in 1931, and 19,318 of 30,799. Since the end of slavery in 1834, the local government had encouraged white immigration through a number of methods, though the large Portuguese Bermudian demographic (2,622 in 1939) that was one of the results was treated as a third racial category, separate from whites. There had, however, also been considerable immigration since the end of the Nineteenth Century from British West Indian colonies which had added to the coloured population.

Family life

On 23 November 1911, Hildyard married Muriel Mary Bonsor (1887–1975), the daughter of Sir Cosmo Bonsor, 1st Baronet, by his second marriage to Mabel Grace Brand., Retrieved 15 February 2011 Hildyard died on 29 September 1965 and at the time of his death was living at South Hartfield House, Coleman's Hatch, Sussex.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hildyard, Reginald 1876 births 1965 deaths British Army generals British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army personnel of World War I Governors of Bermuda Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment officers Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Military personnel from Surrey