Major Edric Frederick Gifford, 3rd Baron Gifford, VC (5 July 1849 – 5 June 1911) was an English recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

forces.

Military career

Edric Gifford was born at Ropley in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

on 5 July 1849. His father was Robert Francis Gifford, 2nd Baron Gifford, and his mother was Hon. Swinburne Frederica Charlotte FitzHardinge Berkeley. His brother was Maurice Gifford, CMG, who raised "Gifford's Horse" in the

Second Matabele War The Second Matabele War, also known as the First Chimurenga, was fought between 1896 and 1897 in the region that later became Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The conflict was initially between the British South Africa Company and the Mata ...

. He was educated at Harrow, and in 1869 entered the 83rd Foot. On the death of his father in 1872, he became 3rd Baron Gifford. In 1874, at the age of 23, Gifford was a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the 2nd Battalion, 24th Foot (later the

South Wales Borderers The South Wales Borderers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for 280 years. It came into existence in England in 1689, as Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot, and afterwards had a variety of names and headquarters. In ...

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

during the

Third Anglo-Ashanti War The Anglo-Ashanti wars were a series of five conflicts that took place between 1824 and 1900 between the Ashanti Empire—in the Akan interior of the Gold Coast—and the British Empire and its African allies. Despite initial Ashanti victorie ...

, when the events took place which resulted in the award of his Victoria Cross with the citation: In 1876, Gifford left the 24th Foot, moving to the 57th Foot. In 1878 he was in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, and in 1879 he was aide-de-camp to Sir Garnet Wolseley in the

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in present-day South Africa from January to early July 1879 between forces of the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Two famous battles of the war were the Zulu victory at Battle of Isandlwana, Isandlwana and th ...

. Shortly afterwards he retired from the Army as a brevet

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Colonial administrator

Gifford married Sophia Catherine Street, the daughter of Gen.

John Alfred Street General John Alfred Street, Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (1822 – 5 December 1889) was a British Army officer who was the 25th General Officer Commanding, Ceylon. Early life Street was the second child and eldest of three sons of Capt ...

, in April 1880, then went to

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, which was at that time a

colony. He arrived in Western Australia in October 1880 and immediately took up an appointment to the position of Colonial Secretary, and a nomination to the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative A ...

. After leaving Western Australia in January 1883 following disputes with the Chief Justice, Sir

Henry Wrenfordsley Sir Henry Thomas Wrenfordsley (1825 – 2 June 1908) was an Irish lawyer and was the second Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, which is the highest ranking court in the Australian State of Western Australia.T. S. Louch,Wren ...

and the Governor Sir William Robinson, Gifford was Colonial Secretary of

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

from 1883 to 1887. In 1889 he became a director of the

British South Africa Company The British South Africa Company (BSAC or BSACo) was chartered in 1889 following the amalgamation of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association and the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, which had originally competed to capitalize on the expecte ...

. Edric Gifford died on 5 June 1911 in

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He had no children. His nephew John Fitzhardinge Paul Butler also won a Victoria Cross. Edric Gifford's Victoria Cross medal is not publicly held.

Coat of arms

Notes

References

* * Bennett, J. M., Sir Henry Wrenfordsley - Second Chief Justice of Western Australia 1880–1883, The Federation Press, Sydney, 2004, pp 32–33, 40–41, 44–49, 78.

External links

Location of grave and VC medal
''(West Sussex)'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Gifford, Edric Gifford, 3rd Baron 1849 births 1911 deaths People educated at Harrow School Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom South Wales Borderers officers British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Ashanti War British recipients of the Victoria Cross Colonial secretaries of Western Australia Military personnel from Gloucestershire Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council 57th Regiment of Foot officers 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot officers British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Colonial secretaries of Gibraltar British expatriates in Australia People from Bosham Burials in West Sussex