Sir Charles Fergusson, 7th Baronet

General Sir Charles Fergusson, Bt GCB, GCMG, DSO, MVO
Sir Charles Fergusson, circa 1926.
3rd Governor-General of New Zealand
In office 13 December 1924 – 8 February 1930
Monarch	George V
Preceded by	The Viscount Jellicoe
Succeeded by	The Lord Bledisloe
Personal details
Born	17 January 1865(1865-01-17)
Died	20 February 1951(1951-02-20) (aged 86) Maybole, Ayrshire United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Children	Bernard Fergusson
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1883–1922
Rank	General
Commands	5th Division 9th (Scottish) Division II Corps 17th corps
Battles/wars	Mahdist War World War I

General Sir Charles Fergusson, 7th Baronet GCB, GCMG, DSO, MVO (17 January 1865 – 20 February 1951) was a British Army officer and the third Governor-General of New Zealand.

Early life and Army career

Sir Charles was the son of Sir James Fergusson, the 6th Governor of New Zealand. He was educated at Eton and Sandhurst before joining the Grenadier Guards in 1883.^[1] He served in Sudan from 1896 to 1898 becoming Commanding Officer of the 15th Sudanese Regiment in 1899 and Commander of the Omdurman District in 1900.^[1] He was made Adjutant General of the Egyptian Army 1901 and Commanding Officer of 3rd Bn Grenadier Guards in 1904 before becoming a Brigadier-General on the staff of the Irish Command in 1907.^[1] He was appointed Inspector of Infantry in 1909 and General Officer Commanding 5th Division in Ireland in 1913 – in this capacity he played a key role during the Curragh incident ensuring his officers remained loyal to the King.^[2] He took the 5th Division to France in August 1914 at the start of World War I^[2] and then briefly took command of 9th (Scottish) Division from October to December 1914.^[3] He commanded II Corps from January 1915 and then, from May 1916, XVII Corps corps which he led until the end of the War.^[2]

After the War he was a Military Governor of Cologne before he retired in 1922.^[1]

Governor-General of New Zealand

After an unsuccessful attempt to enter Parliament in 1923, he was appointed Governor General of New Zealand in 1924 serving until 1930.^[1] Sir Charles' father Sir James Fergusson was a Governor of New Zealand and his son Bernard was the 10th and last British appointed Governor-General.

On 20 June 1929 Sir Charles was involved in a railway accident following the 1929 Murchison earthquake. Departing the National Dairy Show at Palmerston North with 200 passengers on board, the Vice Regal Carriage was attached to the rear of the train with their excellencies, Sir Charles and Lady Alice and other members of the Vice Regal party. The train hit a slip between Paekakariki and Pukerua Bay, with the locomotive falling down a steep bank and injuring the driver. The first three carriages of the train also left the rails, but the Vice Regal carriage remained on the tracks and the Governor-General and his party only suffered minor cuts and bruises.^[4]

Later life

After his term in New Zealand, he became chairman of the West Indies Closer Union Commission and was Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire from 1937 until his death on 20 February 1951.

Arms

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
2. ^ ^{a b c} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
3. ^ Army Commands
4. ^ Gavin McLean (October 2006), The Governors, New Zealand Governors and Governors-General, Otago University Press, ISBN 13 978 1 877372 25 4, http://www.otago.ac.nz/press/booksauthors/2006/governors.html 

Further reading

• Foster, B. J. 'FERGUSSON, General Sir Charles, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., D.S.O., M.V.O., LL.D. (Glasgow), Bt.' Encyclopaedia of New Zealand

External links

• Official biography
• Biography at Government of New Zealand

Military offices
Preceded by William Campbell	General Officer Commanding the 5th Division 1913–1914	Succeeded by Thomas Morland
Preceded by Colin Mackenzie	General Officer Commanding the 9th (Scottish) Division October 1914 – December 1914	Succeeded by Herman Landon
Preceded by Horace Smith-Dorrien	GOC II Corps January 1915 – May 1916	Succeeded by Claud Jacob
Preceded by Julian Byng	GOC XVII Corps May 1916  – November 1918	Succeeded by Post Disbanded
Government offices
Preceded by The Viscount Jellicoe	Governor-General of New Zealand 1924–1930	Succeeded by The Viscount Bledisloe
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Marquess of Ailsa	Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire 1937–1951	Succeeded by Sir Geoffrey Hughes-Onslow
Baronetage of Nova Scotia
Preceded by James Fergusson	Baronet (of Kilkerran) 1907–1957	Succeeded by James Fergusson

Persondata
Name	Fergusson, Charles
Alternative names
Short description	Viceroy, military leader
Date of birth	1865
Place of birth
Date of death	1951
Place of death