William Lambton (British Army officer)

{{Infobox military person

|honorific_prefix=The Honourable

| name =Sir William Lambton

| image = William Lambton (1863–1936).png

| caption = In The Sketch, 27 December 1899

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1863|12|04|df=yes}}

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1936|10|11|1863|12|04|df=yes}}

| placeofburial_label =

| placeofburial =

| birth_place =Durham, County Durham, England{{cite web|url=https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/KHJV-ZY5/major-general-sir-william-lambton-kcb-cmg-cvo-dso-1863-1936|title=Major General Sir William Lambton KCB CMG CVO DSO|publisher=Family Search|access-date=22 October 2024}}

| death_place = Cap-d'Ail, France

| placeofburial_coordinates = St. Barnabas' Church, Bournmoor, Durham, England

| nickname =

| allegiance ={{flag|United Kingdom}}

| branch ={{army|United Kingdom}}

| serviceyears =1884–1920

| rank =Major General

| unit =Coldstream Guards

| commands =1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards
4th Division

| battles =Mahdist War
Second Boer War
First World War

| awards =Companion of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order

| relations =

| laterwork =

}}

Major General Sir William Lambton, KCB, CMG, CVO, DSO (4 December 1863 – 11 October 1936) was a British Army officer who commanded the 4th Division during the First World War.

Military career

Born the son of George Lambton, 2nd Earl of Durham, he was educated at Eton College and the Royal Military College at Sandhurst.[http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/edward-walford/the-county-families-of-the-united-kingdom-or-royal-manual-of-the-titled-and-un-fla/page-209-the-county-families-of-the-united-kingdom-or-royal-manual-of-the-titled-and-un-fla.shtml The county families of the United Kingdom; or, Royal manual of the titled and untitled aristocracy of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland by Edward Walford, (Volume ed.59, yr.1919)]

Lambton was commissioned a lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards on 6 February 1884,{{cite web|url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/LAMBTON.shtml|title=Lambton, William|publisher= Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003072425/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/LAMBTON.shtml|archive-date=3 October 2012}}{{London Gazette|issue=25315|page=532|date=5 February 1884}} promoted to captain on 18 May 1892,{{London Gazette|issue=26293|page=3208|date=31 May 1892}} and became aide-de-camp to the governor-general of Ireland in August 1893,{{London Gazette|issue=26667|page=5406|date=1 October 1895}} before attending the Staff College, Camberley from 1897–1898. After graduating, he was seconded in order to serve with the Egyptian Army{{London Gazette|issue=26931|page=376|date=21 January 1898}} and took part in the Nile expedition of 1898 and fought at the Battle of Atbara and the Battle of Omdurman, and was promoted to major on 29 September 1898.{{London Gazette|issue=27021|page=6511|date=8 November 1898}}[https://www.angloboerwar.com/index.php/medals-and-awards/british/1884-distinguished-service-order?option=com_grid&gid=22_uw_0&p=29 Anglo Boer War]

Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War in late 1899, his battalion was sent to South Africa. As part of the Kimberley Relief Force, he was present at the Battle of Magersfontein on 10–11 December 1899, in which the defending Boer force defeated the advancing British forces amongst heavy casualties for the latter. Lambton was mentioned in the despatch from Paul Methuen, who described the battle and how Lambton had refused to be carried off the battlefield despite being wounded.{{London Gazette|issue=27174|pages=1785-1787|date=16 March 1900|}}

After his recovery, he served as military secretary to the commander-in-chief of the Transvaal, and was military secretary to Alfred Milner, high commissioner for Southern Africa, from December 1900,{{London Gazette|issue=27283|page=1063|date=12 February 1901}} with the local rank of lieutenant colonel.{{London Gazette |issue=27441 |page=3754 |date=10 June 1902}} He was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order in April 1901.{{London Gazette|issue=11296|page=466|date=23 April 1901|city=e}}

In October 1906 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel{{London Gazette|issue=27963|page=7369|date=2 November 1906}} and, by now commanding the 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards, in May 1907 was made a CEO.{{London Gazette|issue=28026|page=3757|date=31 May 1907}}

In August 1910, after being promoted to colonel,{{London Gazette|issue=28404|page=5671|date=5 August 1910}} he succeeded Brigadier General Ivor Maxse in command of the Coldstream Guards and the regimental district.{{London Gazette|issue=28404|page=5670|date=5 August 1910}} He was appointed commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards in 1912, and was Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster-General for London District in 1913.

He was military secretary to the C-in-C of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) at the beginning of the First World War in August 1914. Promoted in September to temporary brigadier general,{{London Gazette|issue=28909|page=7471|date=18 September 1914|supp=y}} and was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in February 1915.{{London Gazette|issue=29074|page=1686|date=16 February 1915|supp=y}} He was promoted once again, now to major general, in June, "for distinguished service in the Field"{{London Gazette|issue=29202|page=6116|date=22 June 1915|supp=y}} and became general officer commanding (GOC) of the 4th Division in September, which he led for the next two years.

He retired from the army in April 1920.{{London Gazette|issue=31866|page=4445|date=13 April 1920|supp=y}}{{London Gazette|issue=32775|page=8718|date=8 December 1922}}

Family

In 1921, he married Lady Katherine de Vere Somerset, née Beauclerk, daughter of William Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans; they had no children.Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003

William Lambton died in Cap-d'Ail on 11 October 1936.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-telegraph-death-of-hon-sir-w/133746994/ |title=Death of Hon. Sir W. Lambton |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |place=Nice |page=15 |date=1936-10-11 |publication-date=1936-10-12 |access-date=2023-10-19 |via=Newspapers.com}}