Reginald Talbot

{{Short description|British Army officer, Member of Parliament and Governor of Victoria}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = Major General The Honourable

| name = Sir Reginald Talbot

| honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCB}}

| image = Sir Reginald Arthur James Talbot.jpg

|caption=Portrait by Archibald Stuart-Wortley

| order = 11th

| office = Governor of Victoria

| term_start = 25 April 1904

| term_end = 6 July 1908

| lieutenant =

| monarch = Edward VII

| premier = Sir Thomas Bent

| predecessor = Sir George Clarke

| successor = Sir Thomas Gibson-Carmichael

| birth_date = {{birth date|1841|7|11|df=y}}

| birth_place = London, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|1929|1|15|1841|7|11|df=y}}

| death_place = London, England

| nationality = British

| spouse = Margaret Jane Stuart-Wortley

| relations =

| children =

| residence =

| alma_mater =

| occupation = Soldier

| profession =

| religion =

| signature =

| website =

| footnotes =

| nickname =

| allegiance = United Kingdom

| branch = British Army

| serviceyears = 1859–1903

| rank = Major General

| unit =

| commands = British Troops in Egypt (1899–1902)
1st Regiment of Life Guards (1885–1886)

| battles = Anglo-Zulu War
Nile Expedition

| mawards = Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath

}}

Major General Sir Reginald Arthur James Talbot, {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCB}} (11 July 1841 – 15 January 1929) was a British Army officer, Member of Parliament, and Governor of Victoria in Australia.

Early life

Talbot was born in London, the third son of Henry, Viscount Ingestre (later 3rd Earl Talbot and then 18th Earl of Shrewsbury) and Lady Sarah Elizabeth, née Beresford, daughter of the 2nd Marquess of Waterford. After attending Harrow School, he joined the British Army and became a sub-lieutenant in the 1st Regiment of Life Guards in 1859.L. R. Gardiner, [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120183b.htm 'Talbot, Sir Reginald Arthur James (1841–1929)'], Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 12, Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 165.

Political and military career

From 1869 to 1874, Talbot represented Stafford in the British House of Commons for the Conservative Party. On 8 May 1877, he married Margaret Jane Stuart-Wortley, granddaughter of the 1st Baron Wharncliffe.

He returned to active service in the army, fighting in the Anglo-Zulu War, Egypt and taking part in the unsuccessful Nile Expedition to relieve General Charles George Gordon in Khartoum. Talbot was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1885. He became General Officer Commanding the British Troops in Egypt in 1899, serving as such until 1903.{{cite web|url=http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Army%20Commands%201900-2011.pdf|title=Army Commands|accessdate=23 August 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705211343/http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Army%20Commands%201900-2011.pdf|archivedate=5 July 2015}}

He was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1902 Coronation Honours list,{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Coronation Honours |date=26 June 1902 |page=5 |issue=36804| }}{{London Gazette |issue=27448 |supp=y |date=26 July 1902 |page=4190}} and invested in person by the Duke of Connaught on 7 December 1902, when the Prince visited Egypt en route to India.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Latest intelligence - The Duke of Connaught in Egypt |date=8 December 1902 |page=5 |issue=36945}}

Governor of Victoria

He was sworn in as Governor of Victoria on 25 April 1904. His tenure was marked by Talbot's determination to achieve visible improvement, and his reports to Britain favourably compared Victoria's economic and educational statistics to those of 1903.

Talbot died in London on 15 January 1929.