William Peyton

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For the Virginia lawyer, politician and slave owner, see William M. Peyton.

Sir

William Peyton
Mentioned in Despatches
(6)

KCVO, DSO (7 May 1866 – 14 November 1931) was a British Army officer who served as Military Secretary to the British Expeditionary Force from 1916 to 1918. He was Delhi Herald of Arms Extraordinary at the time of the Delhi Durbar of 1911.[2]

Early life

The third son of Colonel John Peyton, commanding officer of the 7th Dragoon Guards, Peyton was educated at Brighton College.[3][4]

Military career

In 1885, Peyton enlisted in the ranks in the 7th Dragoon Guards,[3] a regiment that his father had commanded between 1871 and 1876.[4] The explanation of this was his failure to pass the entrance examination of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.[4] Having risen to sergeant, Peyton was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 7th Dragoon Guards on 18 June 1887,[3][4][5] and promoted lieutenant in 1890.[6] He was appointed regimental adjutant in 1892.[7][8] In 1896 he transferred to the 15th Hussars and was promoted captain.[3][9]

He was seconded to the Egyptian Army and saw service with the

Order of the Medjidieh, Fourth Class.[14]

Peyton fought next in South Africa, 1899–1900, where he served with Alexander Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry, was promoted major and brevet lieutenant colonel,[15] again mentioned in despatches,[16] and received the Queen's South Africa Medal with three clasps, but his service was cut short by illness and he was invalided back to England.[3][4] He passed the Army's Staff College in December 1901.[4]

From 1903 until 1907 Peyton commanded the 15th Hussars,

Commander of the Royal Victorian Order,[22] and from July 1912 was Military Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief, India.[4][23][24][25]

Major-General Sir William Peyton and Vice-Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon waiting on the quayside at Calais for the arrival of King George V and Queen Mary, June 1917

Peyton returned to England in 1914 on the outbreak of the

Admiralty and was again mentioned in despatches.[3][32]

In May 1916, after success as a combat commander, Peyton was transferred to become

15th/19th Hussars until his death.[35]

Peyton was knighted in 1917, being made a

Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order when King George V visited the troops in the field.[3][36]

Funerary monument, Brompton Cemetery, London

In April and May 1918, Peyton nominally commanded the

40th Infantry Division during operations in France and Flanders, leading it through the Hundred Days advance through Flanders.[4][39][40]

Peyton's feelings about his postings between May 1916 and July 1918 were expressed silently by his omitting any mention of them from his entry in Who's Who.[3][4]

Peyton next returned to India, to command the

United Province district and the 3rd Indian Division at Meerut between 1920 and 1922.[3][41][42][43] He was promoted substantive lieutenant general in 1921.[3][44]

Peyton was next posted as Military Secretary to the Secretary of State for War, from 1922 to 1926, and as Commander-in-Chief of Scottish Command, 1926 to 1930.[3][45][46] This was his last post before retirement in 1930;[47] he had been promoted general in 1927.[3][48]

A member of the Army and Navy Club, he died there suddenly on 14 November 1931.[4] He is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London, just to the north-west of the chapel.

He was unusually tall, with a height of six feet, six inches.[4]

Family

On 27 April 1889, Peyton married Mabel Maria, daughter of late Lt-General the Hon. E. T. Gage CB, third son of

Earl of Berkeley.[3][49][unreliable source][50] With Mabel, he had one daughter, Ela Violet Ethel.[51] After his wife's death in 1901, Peyton remarried in 1903 with Gertrude, daughter of Major-General A. R. Lempriere and the widow of Captain Stuart Robertson of the 14th Hussars. They had one son and his second wife died in 1916.[3]

In 1921, Peyton's daughter Ela married Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Edward Daymonde Stevenson KCVO (1895–1958) and she died in 1976, leaving one son.[51] Peyton's son-in-law was Gentleman Usher of the Green Rod, 1953–1958, and Purse Bearer to the Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1930–1958.[52]

Freemasonry

He was Initiated in Lodge Logonier, No.2436, (England) and was made an Honorary Member of Lodge Holyrood House (St. Luke's), No.44, (Edinburgh) on 24 March 1923. He was the Grand Sword-bearer of the Grand Lodge of Scotland 1927–1928.[53]

Honours

References

  1. ^ https://www.eliotsofporteliot.com/familytree/getperson.php?personID=I00679&tree=eliot1
  2. ^ a b Cox, Noel, "A New Zealand Heraldic Authority?" in John Campbell-Kease (ed), Tribute to an Armorist: Essays for John Brooke-Little to mark the Golden Jubilee of The Coat of Arms, London, The Heraldry Society, 2000, pp. 93, 101: "Two heralds, with ceremonial rather than heraldic responsibilities, were appointed for the Delhi Durbar in 1911 ... Delhi Herald (Brigadier-General William Eliot Peyton) and Assistant Delhi Herald (Captain the Honourable Malik Mohammed Umar Haiyat Khan)."
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-7136-0171-X
    )
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s William Eliot Peyton Archived 28 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine at the web site of the CENTRE FOR FIRST WORLD WAR STUDIES online at bham.ac.uk (accessed 19 January 2008)
  5. ^ "No. 25710". The London Gazette. 17 June 1887. p. 3285.
  6. ^ "No. 26060". The London Gazette. 10 June 1890. p. 3242.
  7. ^ "No. 26299". The London Gazette. 21 June 1892. p. 3590.
  8. ^ "No. 26730". The London Gazette. 14 April 1896. p. 2253.
  9. ^ "No. 26728". The London Gazette. 7 April 1896. p. 2162.
  10. ^ "No. 26732". The London Gazette. 21 April 1896. p. 2388.
  11. ^ a b "No. 26791". The London Gazette. 3 November 1896. p. 6005.
  12. ^ a b "No. 27009". The London Gazette. 30 September 1898. pp. 5728–5729.
  13. ^ a b "No. 27023". The London Gazette. 15 November 1898. p. 6689.
  14. ^ a b "No. 27069". The London Gazette. 7 April 1899. p. 2272.
  15. ^ "No. 27306". The London Gazette. 19 April 1901. pp. 2704–2705.
  16. ^ a b "No. 27282". The London Gazette. 8 February 1901. p. 966.
  17. ^ "No. 27607". The London Gazette. 20 October 1903. p. 6370.
  18. ^ "No. 28068". The London Gazette. 11 October 1907. p. 6814.
  19. ^ "No. 27790". The London Gazette. 5 May 1905. p. 3249.
  20. ^ "No. 28108". The London Gazette. 11 February 1908. p. 971.
  21. ^ "No. 28174". The London Gazette. 4 September 1908. p. 6450.
  22. ^ a b "No. 28559". The London Gazette. 8 December 1911. pp. 9363–9364.
  23. ^ "No. 28638". The London Gazette. 23 August 1912. p. 6285.
  24. ^ "No. 28821". The London Gazette. 14 April 1914. p. 3169.
  25. ^ "No. 28841". The London Gazette. 19 June 1914. p. 4801.
  26. ^ "No. 28879". The London Gazette. 25 August 1914. p. 6686.
  27. ^ "No. 28899". The London Gazette. 11 September 1914. p. 7220.
  28. ^ "No. 28961". The London Gazette. 3 November 1914. p. 8884.
  29. ^ "No. 29578". The London Gazette. 12 May 1916. p. 4701.
  30. ^ a b "No. 29632". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 June 1916. pp. 6185–6190.
  31. ^ "No. 32155". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 December 1920. p. 12118.
  32. ^ a b "No. 29455". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 January 1916. p. 1195.
  33. ^ "No. 29594". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 May 1916. p. 5165.
  34. ^ "No. 30676". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 May 1918. p. 5562.
  35. ^ "15th The King's Hussars". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 28 October 2005. Retrieved 9 February 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  36. ^ a b "No. 30216". The London Gazette. 3 August 1917. p. 7912.
  37. ^ Major A. F. Becke, History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 4 (1944, reprinted 2007) p. 111.
  38. ^ "No. 30676". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 May 1918. p. 5565.
  39. ^ "No. 31431". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 July 1919. p. 8371.
  40. ^ "No. 32147". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 November 1920. p. 11904.
  41. ^ "No. 31614". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 October 1919. p. 12983.
  42. ^ "No. 32254". The London Gazette. 11 March 1921. p. 2000.
  43. ^ "No. 32631". The London Gazette. 7 March 1922. p. 1954.
  44. ^ "No. 32439". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 August 1921. p. 6830.
  45. ^ "No. 33135". The London Gazette. 23 February 1926. p. 1339.
  46. ^ "No. 33580". The London Gazette. 18 February 1930. p. 1051.
  47. ^ "No. 33614". The London Gazette. 10 June 1930. p. 3670.
  48. ^ "No. 33286". The London Gazette. 21 June 1927. p. 3977.
  49. ^ Lundy, Darryl. "General Sir William Eliot Peyton". thepeerage.com. p. 8317 § 83163. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
  50. The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal
    : The Anne of Exeter Volume, London, T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1907, p. 269
  51. ^ a b Conqueror A1 at william1.co.uk (accessed 19 January 2008)
  52. ^ STEVENSON, Lieut-Col Sir Edward Daymonde in Who's Who 1958 (London, A. & C. Black, 1958)
  53. ^ A History of the Mason Lodge of Holyrood House (St.Luke's), No.44, holding of the Grand Lodge of Scotland with Roll of Members, 1734-1934, by Robert Strathern Lindsay, W.S., Edinburgh, 1935. Vol.II, p.720.
  54. ^ "No. 29977". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 March 1917. p. 2449.
  55. ^ "No. 29943". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 February 1917. p. 1592.
  56. ^ "No. 29875". The London Gazette. 22 December 1916. p. 1248.
  57. ^ 15th The King's Hussars at regiments.org (accessed 19 January 2008) Archived 18 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  58. ^ "No. 30568". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 March 1918. pp. 3093–3097.
  59. ^ "No. 33798". The London Gazette. 12 February 1932. p. 953.
  60. ^ 15th/19th The King's Hussars at regiments.org (accessed 19 January 2008) Archived 3 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  61. ^ "No. 33133". The London Gazette. 16 February 1926. p. 1162.
  62. ^ Warwickshire Yeomanry at regiments.org (accessed 19 January 2008) Archived 19 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine

External links

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Military offices
Preceded by
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 GOC Reserve Army
April–May 1918 		Succeeded by
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