William Julius Gascoigne

Major-General Sir William Julius Gascoigne KCMG (29 May 1844 – 9 September 1926) was a British Army officer and served as General Officer Commanding the Militia of Canada from 1895 to 1898.

Sir William Gascoigne
Born	29 May 1844
Died	9 September 1926 (aged 82)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Major-General
Commands held	General Officer Commanding the Militia of Canada Commander of British Troops in China and Hong Kong
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George

Military career

Gascoigne was commissioned into the Scots Fusilier Guards in 1863.[1] He was appointed Adjutant in 1867,[2] served in Egypt in 1882 and in Sudan in 1885[3]

In 1895 he was promoted to Major-general[3] and appointed General Officer Commanding the Militia of Canada[4] and in 1898 he was appointed Commander of British Troops in China and Hong Kong.[5]

Gascoigne was also the last Lieutenant Governor of Hong Kong (serving from 1898 to 1902), but the role was ceremonial and in lapsed use since the 1870s.

He was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1899, and knighted as a Knight Commander (KCMG) of the same order in Nov 1900 in recognition of services during the Boxer Rebellion in China.[6]

Gascoigne Road in Kowloon, Hong Kong is named after him.[7]

Family

In 1875, he married Helen Smith, daughter of Martin T. Smith, and widow of Hon. Arthur F. Egerton.[3][8]

References

1. "No. 22722". The London Gazette. 31 March 1863. p. 1822.
2. "No. 23336". The London Gazette. 24 December 1867. p. 7009.
3. Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2008, GASCOIGNE, Maj.-Gen. Sir William Julius Gascoigne'; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007
4. "No. 27038". The London Gazette. 2 January 1899. p. 2.
5. "No. 27025". The London Gazette. 22 November 1898. p. 6938.
6. "No. 27337". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 July 1901. p. 4915.
7. Wordie, Jason (2007). Streets: Exploring Kowloon. Hong Kong University Press. p. 70. ISBN 9789622098138.
8. "Maj.-Gen. Sir William Julius Gascoigne". The Peerage. 19 February 2009.