British general (1843–1913)
Major-General Sir John Ramsay Slade KCB (16 March 1843 – 4 September 1913) was a British Army officer who became General Officer Commanding the British Troops in Egypt .[ 2]
Early life and education
Slade was born at Berwick House in Berwick St Leonard , Wiltshire, into a distinguished military family, the eldest of four sons of Lieutenant-General Marcus Slade and his wife, Charlotte Ramsay. He was the grandson of General Sir John Slade, 1st Baronet and great-grandson of George Ramsay, 8th Earl of Dalhousie , and nephew of Admiral Sir Adolphus Slade .[ 3]
He survived his three younger brothers. Arthur Maitland Slade (27 November 1846 – 1847) died in childhood, while Maj. Montagu Maule Slade (16 January 1849 – 29 February 1884) was killed in action in the Second Battle of Teb while serving with the 10th Hussars . His youngest brother, Lt.-Gen. Frederick George Slade CB FRGS (15 December 1851 – 16 August 1910) served in multiple campaigns in the late 19th century and was Inspector-General of the Royal Garrison Artillery headquarters 1902–1906.[ 3]
He was educated at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich .[ 2]
Military career
Slade was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1861.[ 4] After taking part in the Bazaar Valley Expedition in 1878, he commanded a battery at the Battle of Maiwand in July 1880 during the Second Anglo-Afghan War .[ 4] He served as a staff officer during the First Boer War and then became military attaché in Rome in 1887.[ 4] He also served as a staff officer assisting General Antonio Baldissera during the First Italo-Ethiopian War before becoming General Officer Commanding the British Troops in Egypt in 1903.[ 5]
Personal life
Slade was twice married. In 1871, he married Lucía Amelia Aurora di Ramos (21 October 1872), daughter of Señor Don Vincente di Ramos in Marín, of Madrid . She died days after giving birth to their son, Victor Marcus (16 October 1872 – 21 January 1873), who died in infancy.[ 3]
In 1882, he married secondly, Janet Little Wood, daughter of Maj.-Gen. Robert Blucher Wood and Lady Constantia Lowther. Lady Constantia was the daughter of Col Hon Henry Cecil Lowther (son of the 1st Earl of Lonsdale ) and Lady Lucy Sherard (daughter of Philipp Sherard, 5th Earl of Harborough ).[ 6]
They had one daughter, Lucia Slade Marling CBE – named after his late first wife – who married Sir Charles Murray Marling .[ 3]
Slade was baptised into the Church of England shortly after his birth and again at aged 2,[ 7] [ 8] but later converted to Roman Catholicism .[ 9]
References
^ Who's Who . A. & C. Black. 1910. p. 1787.
^ a b "Obituary: Major-General Sir John Slade". The Times . 5 September 1913. p. 9.
^ a b c d Mosley, Charles , ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. pp. 3645–3646. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1 .
^ a b c "Major-General Sir John Slade" . The Sydney Morning Herald . 6 September 1913. Retrieved 23 August 2014 .
^ "Army Commands" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2014 .
^ Howard, Joseph Jackson (1896). Visitation of England and Wales: Volume 4 . Priv. print. p. 72 . Retrieved 26 May 2019 .
^ Wiltshire, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813–1916
^ Gloucestershire, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813–1913
^ Burnand, Sir Francis Cowley (1908). The Catholic Who's Who and Yearbook . p. 367.