Edward Thomas Henry Hutton KCB KCMG (1848 - 1923)

Born 6 Dec 1848 in Torquay, Devon, England

Ancestors

Husband of Eleanor Mary (Paulet) Hutton — married 1889 in St George Hanover Square, London, England

Died 4 Aug 1923 at age 74 in Lyne, Surrey, England

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Biography

Edward Hutton KCB KCMG is Notable.

Lieutenant General Sir Edward Hutton KCB KCMG DL FRGS was a British military commander who pioneered the use of mounted infantry in the British Army and later commanded both the Canadian Militia and the Australian Army. It was Hutton who created an Australian army comprising a field force and a garrison force, transformed various Australian cavalry and mounted units into the famous light horse, and began the process of producing an educated officer corps. He was a veteran of five wars.

Edward Hutton, circa 1898

formative years

Edward Hutton KCB KCMG was born in England.

Born Edward Thomas Henry Hutton on 6th December 1848 at Torquay, Devon, England^[1], he was the only son of Colonel Sir Edward Hutton, an army officer and banker, and his wife Jacinthe Eyre, and stepson of General Sir Arthur Lawrence. Edward's father died in 1849. Edward was educated at Eton College, leaving in 1867 and taking a commission in the King's Royal Rifle Corps.^[2]

In 1889, in St Paul's Church of England, Knightsbridge, London, England, Edward married Eleanor Paulet, daughter of Reverend Lord Charles Paulet, and niece of the Marquess of Winchester and of Field-Marshal Lord William Paulet.^[3]

synopsis of military career

Hutton first saw active duty in Africa in 1879, in the Anglo-Zulu War. He served in the First Anglo-Boer War of 1880–81, in the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882, and in the Nile Expedition of 1884–85. Hutton had become closely linked with the employment of mounted infantry in the African campaigns, and was the army's leading authority on the use of mounted infantry.^[4]

It has been argued, irrelevantly, that his marriage brought improved social connections that led to his being appointed as an aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria in 1892; a position he continued to hold under King Edward VII. Hutton was commandant of the military forces of New South Wales in 1894-95.^[2] In 1898, he was made General Officer Commanding the Militia of Canada.^[5] Next, he served in the South African campaign of 1899-1902, also known as the Second Boer War, in which he commanded the 1st Mounted Infantry Brigade, a formation made up of Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand troops, and actively engaged both during Lord Roberts's advance from Bloemfontein and after the fall of Pretoria.^[2]

Hutton was General Officer Commanding the Australian Military Forces 1902-04 (see next section, below).^[4]

Back home in Britain he was appointed commander of the 3rd Division in 1905-06 and oversaw administration of Eastern Command. He retired as a Lieutenant General in 1907, aged 59 years. In 1914, at the commencement of the First World War, he was recalled from retirement to command the newly raised 21st Division in the New Armies. He fell ill following a riding accident in 1915, bringing about his final military retirement.^[4]

down under

Although his appointment lasted just three years (January 1902 to the end of 1904), Hutton has left his 'mark' on the Australian Army. He was its first 'Chief of Army' (as the position he held is today known) upon its formation following the federation of the six British Colonies into the Commonwealth of Australia. His primary responsibility was to transform six colonial forces into one national Australian Army that could defend the enormous landmass.^[4]

The handicaps under which Hutton worked cannot be disregarded. He began his task in years of recession when weak governments were struggling to reduce expenditure. In three years he had to deal with four prime ministers and six ministers of defence, across the political spectrum of a new nation. At first, some of his colonial forces were deployed in South Africa. In 1904 there came the added issues of monitoring the Russo–Japanese War, in which Russia and Japan were at loggerheads over rival ambitions for control of Manchuria and Korea. Perhaps Hutton's chief difficulty arose from his desire to serve two masters, the British War Office and the Australian Commonwealth Government: he intended to give Australia an efficient citizen force for its own defence but he also wanted it to be ready to defend any part of the Empire. Despite the strength of the Imperial ties, Australian national sentiment and a growing appreciation of the country's proper interests caused friction at ministry and government level.^[4]

Hutton certainly had an eye for talent. Among his protégés were Lieutenant Colonel (later Major General Sir) William Bridges, Lieutenant Colonel (General Sir) Harry Chauvel and Captain (General Sir) Brudenell White, all of whom were to play important roles in the development of the army, especially during The Great War. Showing that he was indeed endeared to those with whom he had worked closely in Australia, Hutton corresponded during the war with Bridges, Chauvel, White and others, rejoicing in Australian successes. After the victory of Romani in August 1916 he congratulated Chauvel, commanding the Anzac Mounted Division, saying, "You and your men are establishing Australia as a Nation great by land and sea — which shall stand for British Freedom, Justice and Honour in the Southern Seas for all time." When in England, senior officers of the Australian Imperial Force would visit the old soldier, whose health was then declining.^[4]

honours

Hutton was created Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1900. In 1901 Hutton was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).^[6] This was upgraded to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1912.^[7] He was Mentioned in Despatches on no less than twelve occasions.^[2]

Hutton was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS).^[2]

Lieutenant General Sir Edward Hutton

waning years

In retirement at Chertsey, Surrey, Hutton wrote a history of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, published in 1912 with a revised and expanded edition released in 1917:^[2]

• Hutton, Edward (1912). A brief history of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps. Winchester: Warren & Son.
• Hutton, Edward (1917). A brief history of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, 1755 to 1915. Winchester: Warren & Son.

He passed away, at the surprisingly young age (considering all that he had achieved) of 74 years, on 4th August 1923 at Lyne, Surrey, England, being survived by his wife. He was accorded full military honours at his funeral and burial.^[8] Edward and Eleanor had no children.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ UK FreeBMD Birth Index Dec qtr 1848, vol 10, page 157
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5} Wikipedia profile: Edward Hutton; accessed 7 Jun 2018
3. ↑ UK FreeBMD Marriage Index Jun qtr 1889, vol 1a, page 754a
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6} Hill, A J. Hutton, Sir Edward Thomas Henry (1848–1923). Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1983, accessed online 8 Jun 2018
5. ↑ Miller, Carman. HUTTON, Sir EDWARD THOMAS HENRY, in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 15, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed Mar 2, 2019
6. ↑ London Gazette: Companion of the Order of the Bath; accessed 27 Mar 2020
7. ↑ London Gazette 19 April 1901 Issue: 27306 Page: 2698; accessed 2 Mar 2019
8. ↑ UK FreeBMD Death Index Sep qtr 1923, vol 2a, page 74