Allegiance United Kingdom Service/branch British Army Name George French | Rank Major General Years of service 1860–1902 | |
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Born 19 June 1841
Roscommon, Ireland ( 1841-06-19 ) Buried at Brompton Cemetery, London Commands held Commandant of the New South Wales Military Forces (1896-02)
Commandant of the Queensland Defence Force (1883–91)
Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police (1873–76) Battles/wars Red River Rebellion
North-West Frontier Died July 7, 1921, London, United Kingdom Education Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Place of burial Brompton Cemetery, London, United Kingdom Awards Order of St Michael and St George Battles and wars Red River Rebellion, Military history of the North-West Frontier | ||
Major General Sir George Arthur French (19 June 1841 – 7 July 1921) was a British Army officer who served as the first Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police, from October 1873 to July 1876, and as Commandant of the colonial military forces in Queensland (1883–91) and New South Wales (1896–1902)
George Arthur French was born at Roscommon, Ireland. He was educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and commissioned in the Royal Artillery in 1860.
In 1871, at the request of the Canadian government, he was sent to Canada as a military inspector, eventually becoming head of the School of Gunnery at Kingston, Ontario.
French was appointed to organize the North-West Mounted Police on its creation in 1873, and the next year he led the force on its famous march to the foothills of the Rockies.
French resigned in 1876 and returned to duty in the British Army, eventually attaining the rank of major general. The organizational skills developed in Canada were used to establish local defence forces in India and Australia. In September 1883 he was appointed Commandant of the Queensland Local Forces with the local rank of colonel, and arrived in the colony on January 4, 1884. Colonel French married, in 1862, Janet Clarke, daughter of the late Robert Long Innes, formerly of the 37th Regiment. Colonel French retired in 1891, and returned to England.
When French retired in 1902 he received a knighthood and for the next 19 years much of his time was spent guarding the crown jewels in London, where he died in 1921.