Charles Tucker (British Army officer)

Lt. Gen. Sir Charles Tucker, GCB, GCVO (6 December 1838 – 22 December 1935) was a British Army officer during the late 19th and early years of the 20th centuries.

Sir Charles Tucker
Lt. Gen. Sir Charles Tucker
Born6 December 1838[1]
Ashburton, Devon, England[2]
Died22 December 1935 (aged 97)
Biarritz, France[3]
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
RankLieutenant-General
Commands heldScottish Command
Battles/warsZulu War
Second Boer War
AwardsKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order

Early life and family

Tucker was born at The Hall, Ashburton, Devon, son of Robert Tucker.[1]

He married first, in 1865, Matilda Frederica Hayter (died 1897), daughter of John Hayter, Painter-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria, and secondly, in 1902, Nelly O'Connell, only daughter of Sir Maurice O'Connell, 2nd Bt.[4][1]

Military career

Commissioned into the 22nd Foot in 1855,[5] Tucker first came to prominence during the Zulu war when, as a major, he commanded the Fort at Kopje Allein in 1879.[6] He was in India, in command of Secunderabad district, until January 1900.[7]

Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War he was ordered by the commander-in-chief of forces in South Africa, Lord Roberts, to take command of the garrison in the City of Pretoria.[8] He later held the command of the Bloemfontein garrison in the Orange River Colony, until he left South Africa in March 1902.[9] He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in November 1900, in recognition of his services in South Africa,[10] and invested as such by King Edward VII on 13 May 1902, after his return to the UK.[11] In his final despatch from South Africa in June 1902, Lord Kitchener, Commander-in-Chief of the forces during the latter part of the war, described Tucker as an officer who "has never feared responsibility, or failed in giving emphatic pronouncement to the good common-sense of which he is possessed".[12]

Tucker returned to South Africa with his newly married wife in June 1902,[13] but the situation had ended with the Peace of Vereeniging, and he left already the following month from Cape Town on the SS Canada and returned to Southampton in late July.[14] He was promoted to lieutenant-general in the South Africa Honours list published on 26 June 1902,[15] and two months later commanded the Colonial forces present in London during the coronation of King Edward VII.[16]

He became General Officer Commanding Scottish District in 1903 and, subsequently, the first General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Scottish Command in 1905:[17] he retired later that year.[18]

He was also Colonel of the Cheshire Regiment (1909–1911)[19] and of the South Staffordshire Regiment (1911–1935).[20]

Decorations

Most Honourable Order of the Bath

  • CB - Companion - 1879
  • KCB - Knight Commander - 29 November 1900 - in recognition of services in connection with the Campaign in South Africa 1899-1900[10]
  • GCB - Knight Grand Cross - 1912

Royal Victorian Order

  • GCVO - Knight Grand Cross - 1905

References
  1. Burke, Sir Bernard, ed. (1914). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (76th ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 2566.
  2. 1891 England Census
  3. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995
  4. Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008
  5. "No. 21818". The London Gazette. 23 November 1855. p. 4369.
  6. Memories of Forty-Eight Years Service - The Zulu War The War Times Journal
  7. "No. 27469". The London Gazette. 29 August 1902. p. 5610.
  8. A question of treason By Francis Hugh De Souza, Page 144 Kiaat, 2004, ISBN 978-0-620-32030-6
  9. "Latest intelligence - Orange River colony". The Times (36709). London. 7 March 1902. p. 3.
  10. "No. 27306". The London Gazette. 19 April 1901. p. 2695.
  11. "The King´s Levée and Investiture". The Times (36766). London. 13 May 1902. p. 11.
  12. "No. 27459". The London Gazette. 29 July 1902. pp. 4835–4836.
  13. "The Army in South Africa - the Reinforcements". The Times (36788). London. 7 June 1902. p. 9.
  14. "The Army in South Africa - Troops returning home". The Times (36821). London. 16 July 1902. p. 11.
  15. "No. 27448". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 June 1902. pp. 4191–4193.
  16. "The Coronation". The Times (36835). London. 1 August 1902. p. 9.
  17. "No. 27841". The London Gazette. 3 October 1905. p. 6631.
  18. "No. 27861". The London Gazette. 8 December 1905. p. 8814.
  19. "No. 28310". The London Gazette. 19 November 1909. p. 8554.
  20. "No. 28541". The London Gazette. 13 October 1911. p. 7464.
Military offices
Preceded by
Archibald Hunter		 GOC Scottish District
(GOC-in-C Scottish Command from 1905)
1903–1905		 Succeeded by
Sir Edward Leach
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