Walter Edgeworth-Johnstone

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Walter Edgeworth-Johnstone KBE CB (24 June 1863 – 4 January 1936) was an Irish sportsman and police official. He was the 1895 and 1896 Amateur Boxing Association of England heavyweight champion. He was Chief Commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police from 1915 to 1923.[1]

"Hard Hitter"
Edgeworth-Johnstone as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, July 1896

Biography

He was born Walter Johnston in 1863 in Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire), County Dublin, Ireland.[2] He later changed his name by deed poll to Edgeworth-Johnstone. In 1895 and 1896 he was Amateur Boxing Association of England heavyweight champion. He was also an excellent footballer and cricket player, and won numerous titles in fencing.[3]

He was commissioned a lieutenant in the Royal Irish Regiment on 25 August 1886, and promoted to captain on 5 April 1893. In February 1900 he was appointed to act temporarily as Assistant Inspector of Gymnasia at Aldershot.[4][5] He transferred to the Curragh Camp where he was Superintendent of Gymnasia from 5 February 1901 to 30 September 1902.[6]

Edgeworth-Johnstone was Chief Commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police from 1915 to 1923.[1] The unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police stayed largely neutral during the Irish War of Independence. Edgeworth-Johnstone was named a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1918 New Year Honours. He was invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1924, and promoted to lieutenant-colonel.[1]

In 1897, Edgeworth-Johnstone married Helen Gunning Walker Waters. They had two sons and two daughters. One of his sons was Robert Edgeworth-Johnstone, a chemical engineer. He died 4 January 1936 in Regent's Park Terrace, London.[3]

References
  1. Bernard Shaw and Dan H. Laurence (1995). Collected Letters. ISBN 9780370302034. Walter Edgeworth-Johnstone (d. 1936) was Chief Commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police 1915-23. ...
  2. 1901 census
  3. "Lieut.-Colonel Sir W. E.-Johnstone". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 6 January 1936. p. 16.
  4. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36056). London. 3 February 1900. p. 14.
  5. "No. 27167". The London Gazette. 20 February 1900. p. 1173.
  6. "No. 27488". The London Gazette. 28 October 1902. p. 6807.
Police appointments
Preceded by
 Chief Commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police
1915–1923		 Succeeded by
W. R. E. Murphy
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