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OBITUARY
General Sir Arthur Lyon Fremantle.
Reprinted from THE TIMES 26th September 1901 Items in [ ] are the authors
We regret to announce that General Sir Arthur Lyon Fremantle died yesterday at the Royal Yacht Squadron Castle. Cowes [Isle of Wight - South England] General Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle, KCMG [Knight Commander of the order of St Michael and St
George], CB [Knight, Grand Cross of St Michael and St George] was born in November 1835, and was one
of the most senior officers of the Army, having held the rank of full General since March 1896. He was the eldest son
of the late Major-General John.W. Fremantle, CB, by Agnes, daughter of Mr. David Lyon. His father served in and
commanded a battalion of the Coldstream Guards, and was a Peninsula veteran of distinction, who had previously
been taken prisoner when serving as ADC to the unfortunate Whitelock at Buenos Aires. General John Fremantle
died in 1845, and his son Arthur Lyon entered the army seven years later as an ensign in the old 70th, from which he
was immediately transferred to the 52nd Foot. In 1853 he became ensign and Lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards,
obtaining promotion the following year, under the former system pursued in the Guards, to Lieutenant and Captain,
and in 1860 to Captain in his regiment and Lieutenant Colonel in the army, advancement hardly to be procured
nowadays at the age of 25. In 1860 Captain and Colonel Fremantle was further appointed assistant military
secretary at Gibraltar, a post which he held for two years. In 1864 he married Mary, daughter of Mr. Richard Hall,
who predeceased him in 1898. A long spell of regimental duty followed, including command of a battalion of the
Coldstream Guards from 1877 to 1880. In the latter years Colonel Fremantle was placed on half-pay, and in 1881
-82 he served as ADC on the staff of the Duke of Cambridge. In April, 1882 he was promoted to the rank of Major-General and in 1884 was given a brigade command in connexion with the Sudan expedition [ relief of General
Gordon at Khartoum]. From 1884-85 he was successively Governor of Suakin, [North Eastern Sudan] in
command of the Brigade of Guards, and Chief of the Staff. For his services he received a mention in despatches and the CB [companion of The Bath]. From 1886 to 1891, and again for some months in 1892, General Fremantle
was employed at Army Headquarters as Deputy Adjutant-General for Militia, Yeomanry, and Volunteers. In
February, 1893, he was appointed to the command of the Scottish District, which, however, he only retained till
January of the following year, when he was appointed Governor of Malta. In the latter post he remained for a full
term of five years, his successor being Sir Francis Grenfell, who still holds the appointment. General Fremantle was created a KCMG in 1894, and GCMG in 1898. He was a J.P. [Justice of the Peace] for Middlesex and London,
and was a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron, at the headquarters of which he died. The funeral will take place at Brighton on Saturday [29th September 1091].
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