Arthur Borton (British Army officer)

General Sir Arthur Borton GCB GCMG (20 January 1814 – 7 September 1893) was a British Army officer who became Governor of Malta.

Sir Arthur Borton
Sir Arthur Borton
Born	20 January 1814 Blofield, Norfolk, England
Died	7 September 1893 London, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1832–1884
Rank	General
Commands held	Mysore division
Battles/wars	First Anglo-Sikh War Crimean War
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
Other work	Governor of Malta

Early life

Victoria Gate in Valletta: the foundation stone was laid by Sir Arthur Borton

Borton was born on 20 January 1814 in Blofield, Norfolk where his father John Drew Borton was the rector.[1] His mother was Louisa Carthew one of the daughters of Rev Thomas Carthew of Woodbridge Abbey in Suffolk. He was educated at Eton College and the Military College, Sandhurst.[1]

Confederate soldier Collett Leventhorpe was his kinsman.[2]

Military career

Plaque mentioning Borton at San Anton Palace

Borton was commissioned into the 9th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot in 1832.[3] He took part in the First Anglo-Sikh War in 1845 and in 1854–55 he commanded the regiment at the siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War.[3] He became commander of an infantry brigade at the Curragh in Ireland in 1866 and General Officer Commanding the Mysore division of the Madras Army in 1870. Promoted to full general in 1877,[4] he became Governor of Malta in 1878 before retiring in June 1884.[3]

Borton was Colonel of the 1st West India Regiment from 1876 to 1888[5] and Colonel of the Norfolk Regiment from 1889 to 1893.[6]

He died, on 7 September 1893 at his residence, 105 Eaton Place, London, and was buried on 9 September at Hunton, near Maidstone, Kent.[7]

Family life

Borton married Caroline Mary Georgina Close in 1850, daughter of Rev John Forbes Close of Morne, County Down.[1] They had two sons: Arthur Close Barton, lieutenant-colonel Somerset Light Infantry, father of lieutenant colonel Arthur Drummond Borton VC and air vice-marshal Amyas Eden Borton, and Charles Edward Borton, lieutenant-colonel in the Norfolk Regiment, who served in the Second Anglo-Afghan War and the Second Boer War.[7]

References

1. "Obituary." Times [London, England] 8 Sept. 1893: 10. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 23 June 2013.
2. Collett Leventhorpe, the English Confederate: The Life of a Civil War General, 1815–1899, p. 26-7
3. R. H. Vetch, rev. James Lunt. "Borton, Sir Arthur (1814–1893)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2924. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
4. The British Almanac, p. 69
5. "No. 25363". The London Gazette. 10 June 1884. p. 2528.
6. "9th (East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 2 January 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
7.  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Vetch, Robert Hamilton (1901). "Borton, Arthur". Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.

External links

• Guide to the Borton Family Papers