Arthur Pole Penton

Arthur Pole Penton
Pole Penton aloft a horse (left) delivering an address to personnel of the Second New Zealand Contingent that was about to depart for the Second Boer War in 1900
Born	(1854-10-06)October 6, 1854
Died	August 28, 1920(1920-08-28) (aged 65)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	Royal Artillery
Years of service	1873–1920
Rank	Major-General
Commands	New Zealand Defence Forces
Battles / wars	Second Anglo-Afghan War
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath * Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George * Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
Other work	Member of the Executive Council of Malta (1909–1920)

Major-General Arthur Pole Penton CB CMG CVO (6 October 1854 – 28 August 1920) was a British officer in the Royal Artillery, and Commandant of the New Zealand Defence Forces from 1897 to 1901.^[1][2]

Military career

Penton was commissioned a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery on 9 January 1873.^[3] He served in the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1878 and was mentioned in dispatches. Promotion to captain came on 7 July 1882, and to major on 1 October 1889.^[3] He was Commandant of the New Zealand Defence Forces between 1896 and 1901,^[4] during which he received the substantive promotion to lieutenant-colonel on 15 December 1898.^[3]

In 1902 he was in charge of the Militia and Volunteer Artillery in the North-Eastern district, in command of the depôt at Scarborough, North Yorkshire.^[3] For services in connection with the colonial military contingents visiting the United Kingdom for the 1902 Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, he was awarded the Coronation Medal in silver.^[5] He received a brevet promotion to colonel on 15 December 1902,^[6] and later advanced to major-general. He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 13th (North Canterbury) Regiment in 1911.^[7]

He was also Member of the Executive Council of Malta from 1909 until his death in 1920.

He was made CVO in 1909, CB in 1910, and CMG in 1917.

Family

His daughter Beryl Katherine married Sir Robert Lock.

References

1. ‘PENTON, Maj.-Gen. Arthur Pole’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 6 June 2013
2. "Obituary: Major-General A. P. Penton" The Times, 2 September 1920; pg. 13.
3. Hart′s Army list, 1903
4. "Death of General Pole-Penton". Evening Post. Wellington, New Zealand. 1 September 1920. p. 7.
5. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36878. London. 20 September 1902. p. 9.
6. "No. 27505". The London Gazette. 19 December 1902. p. 8760.
7. "Defence Forces of New Zealand". Appendix to the Journal of the House of Representatives. 1911. p. 5.