British Army general
General Sir Edward Selby Smyth , KCMG British General . He served as the first General Officer Commanding the Militia of Canada from 1874 to 1880.
Military career
Educated at Putney College in Surrey , Smyth was commissioned in to the 2nd Queen's Royal Regiment in 1841.[ 1] India only returning with his Regiment to England as Adjutant of his Battalion in 1846.[ 1] South Africa in 1851 to protect the administration of the Orange River Sovereignty from attack by the Basotho and Khoikhoi people.[ 1]
In 1853 he was made Deputy Adjutant and Quartermaster-General of the 2nd Division in South Africa and then Adjutant and Quartermaster-General at British Army Headquarters in South Africa.[ 1]
In 1861 he was appointed Inspector-General of the Militia in Ireland and was involved in suppressing the early stages of the Fenian Rising .[ 1] General Officer Commanding British Troops in Mauritius in 1870.[ 1]
He was made General Officer Commanding the Militia of Canada in 1874: he carried out the role successfully and was thanked by the Governor-General of Canada for protecting Montreal from rioting.[ 1]
Family
In 1848 he married Lucy Sophia Julia Campbell, daughter of Major-General Sir Guy Campbell, 1st Baronet and Pamela FitzGerald.[ 1]
References
General Officers Commanding Chiefs of the General Staff Commanders, Mobile Command Chiefs of the Land Staff Commanders of the Canadian Army
