Jump to content

George Cockerill (British Army officer)

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir George Cockerill
Sir George Cockerill in 1919, photographed by Walter Stoneman
Member of Parliament
for Reigate
In office
14 December 1918 – 7 October 1931
Preceded byRichard Hamilton Rawson
Succeeded byGordon Touche
Personal details
Born(1867-08-13)13 August 1867
Died19 April 1957(1957-04-19) (aged 89)
Political partyConservative
Military service
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Branch/serviceBritish Army
Years of service1888–1919
RankBrigadier-General
UnitQueen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey)
Commands7th (Extra Reserve) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers
Battles/warsHazara Expedition of 1888
Chitral Expedition
North-West Frontier
Second Boer War
First World War
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Mentioned in Despatches

Brigadier-General Sir George Kynaston Cockerill, CB (13 August 1867 – 19 April 1957)[1] was a British Army officer and a Conservative Party politician.

Career

[edit]

Cockerill was the son of the Surgeon-General Robert William Cockerill, and his wife Clara Sandys, daughter of Major-General Charles Pooley.[2]

He joined the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) in February 1888, was promoted to a lieutenant on 26 June 1889, and served in the Hazara Expedition in 1891.[2] From 1892 to 1895 he explored the eastern Hindu Kush, for which he won the MacGregor Memorial medal and was a gold medallist of the Royal United Services Institute in India. He served with the Chitral Relief Force in 1895, on the North-West Frontier of India from 1897 to 1898, and was promoted to captain (supernumerary) on 11 February 1899. He was a staff officer in the Second Boer War from 1900 to 1902, serving as deputy assistant adjutant general for communications from February 1900.[2] For his war service, he was mentioned in despatches (dated 8 April 1902)[3] and received brevet promotion to major in the South African Honours list published on 26 June 1902.[4] Following the end of the war, he received a regular commission as a captain in the 4th battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment in August 1902,[5] and left Cape Town on the SS Norman two months later to join his battalion at Dublin.[6] In 1907 he became a major in the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), and retired in 1910.[2] In retirement he served in the Special Reserve and in April 1914 was promoted to lieutenant-colonel to command the 7th (Extra Reserve) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.[7]

At the December 1910 general election Cockerill stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate in the Thornbury division of Gloucestershire.[8] He was British technical delegate at the Hague Conference in 1907.[2] At the outbreak of the First World War he mobilised the 7th Royal Fusiliers[9] and then served in the War Office, first as Sub-Director of Military Operations, then as Deputy Director of Military Intelligence and Director of Special Intelligence with the rank of brigadier-general.[2] He received many honours for his wartime work, including being made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1916.[2]

At the 1918 general election Cockerill was elected unopposed[10] as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Reigate division of Surrey, having stood as a Coalition Conservative. He was returned unopposed in 1922 and in 1923, and re-elected with large majorities in 1924 and 1929.[10] He retired from the House of Commons at the 1931 general election,[10] having been knighted in the King's Birthday Honours in 1926.[11]

Publications

[edit]
  • Sir George Cockerill. "Pioneer Exploration in Hunza and Chitral". The Himalayan Journal. Vol. 11. 1939. 14–41.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 1)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Hesilridge, Arthur G. M. (1922). Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1922. London: Dean & Son. p. 35.
  3. ^ "No. 27443". The London Gazette. 17 June 1902. pp. 3967–3974.
  4. ^ "No. 27448". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 June 1902. pp. 4191–4194.
  5. ^ "No. 27460". The London Gazette. 1 August 1902. p. 4965.
  6. ^ "The Army in South Africa – Troops returning home". The Times. No. 36905. London. 22 October 1902. p. 9.
  7. ^ London Gazette, 3 April 1914.
  8. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 287. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
  9. ^ H.C. O’Neill, The Royal Fusiliers in the Great War, London: Heinemann, 1922, p. 9.
  10. ^ a b c Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 479. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  11. ^ "No. 33179". The London Gazette. 2 July 1926. p. 4402.
[edit]
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Reigate
1918 – 1931 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Cockerill_(British_Army_officer)&oldid=1257331643"