TUDOR-CRAIG

[foureyes]

Can anyone shed any light on this officer, please?

1. Name. TUDOR-CRAIG, Sir Alderton (this name is correct and is not a mis-spelling of Algernon)

2. Rank. Major.

3. Employment. HQ London District.

4. Post. Described as "DAAG" and/or "Acting Assistant Provost Marshall."

5. Decorations. KBE, Chevalier, Order of the Crown (BE).

Comment.

A. I cannot discover his parent regiment although others with the same name (brothers?) were in Irish regiments.

B. It seems very unusual for an officer of the rank of major to be given a knighthood (KBE, 1917). This suggests that his post at London District may have been a cover for some classified employment.

Any thoughts, please?

David

[sotonmate]

David

You should be able to get all his Unit details from his service file at Kew,under WO339/113998. The file is for A TUDOR-CRAIG,let's hope there wasn't another of the same name !

Sotonmate

[SteveE]

David

I haven't been able to find anything in the London Gazette for an Alderton Tudor-Craig (I would have thought something would have surfaced). There is plenty in the Gazette though for an Algernon Tudor-Craig (including a KBE & Chevalier, Ordre de la Couronne) and also for an Alan R(icartton) Tudor-Craig M.C.. Are you 100% sure about the name?

Steve

[foureyes]

Are you 100% sure about the name?

Sorry - you are quite right; it should be ALGERNON.

However, that does not really solve the mystery. He seems to have spent the entire war as a major and, at least nominally, on the books opf HQ London District. He obtained his "K" in 1917. The only other trace of him in the LG is his slow progression up the ranks of the Order opf St John.

?????

David

[Carmania]

David

Here is the Who Was Who entry for Major Sir Algernon Tudor Tudor-Craig:

Details:TUDOR-CRAIG, Major Sir Algernon Tudor, KBE, 1918; CBE 1918; FSA; born 3 January 1873; 2nd son of late Rev. Allen Tudor Craig, MA, Marbœuf Church, Paris; married 1st, 1898, Emily Mary, CBE 1920 (died 1939), daughter of late Rev. James Lukin, Felbrigg Lodge, Romsey; one son; 2nd, 1940, Grace, Commander Order of St John of Jerusalem, daughter of late Thomas William Jennings, Highgate, Middlesex.Work:Major, late 4th Royal Irish Rifles, 1902; Secretary, Inc. Soldiers' and Sailors' Help Society, 1903-1921, and Veterans' Relief Fund, 1908-1921; Director, Admiralty Convalescent Homes, 1914-1920; DAAG 1914-1920; Acting Assistant Provost Marshal, London District, 1915-1920; Comptroller, The Lord Roberts Memorial Fund and Workshops, 1915-1921; Librarian and Curator, United Grand Lodge of England, 1935; Knight of Justice of Order of St John of Jerusalem; Chevalier Order Crown of Belgium.Publications:(jointly with Sir Frank Benson) The Book of the Army Pageant, 1910; Armorial Porcelain of the Eighteenth Century, 1925; Melusine and the Lukin Family, 1932; The Catalogues of the United Grand Lodge of England, 3 vols, 1938.Address:17 Wildcroft Manor, Putney Heath, London SW15. Telephone: Putney 1320.Clubs:Royal Automobile.Died:10 April 1943

Aled

[NeilEvans]

LEFTThe Times, Tuesday, Apr 13, 1943; pg. 1; Issue 49519; col A

CENTREThe Times, Monday, Apr 12, 1943; pg. 6; Issue 49518; col E

RIGHTThe Times, Monday, Apr 12, 1943; pg. 4; Issue 49518; col G

Neil

[Stephen Nulty]

The Times, 27th Jan 1915

[foureyes]

Many, many thanks for all of the above. I am now much wiser about this chap, but a couple of questions still remain.

The reason I am interested in him is because I am working on the WW1 Record of Service of former pupils of Christ's Hospital, which is a charity school and has, and always has had, a strict (and very low) upper limit on parental income. It is by means unusual for former pupils to do well in life, but it is quite clear that Tudor-Craig must have been very well connected - officiating at Coronations, appointments at the Guards-dominated HQ London District and so on. It is also unusual for a major to receive a knighthood, and for someone to receive a CBE in one year and a KBE the next, so I suspect that he received them for achievements other than as DAAG/APM London District.

I am not, for one moment, suggesting that he was not worthy of all these honours, but I am curious as to what he did to earn them.

David

[Tim Godden]

Could it be that he was already retired from the army when he was knighted? That the knighthood was a token of gratitude for his work with ex-servicemen? If so, being a regular officer, he would retain the title of Major as well as Sir.

Just a couple of thoughts.

Yours &c.,

Tim Godden

[foureyes]

Could it be that he was already retired from the army when he was knighted? That the knighthood was a token of gratitude for his work with ex-servicemen? If so, being a regular officer, he would retain the title of Major as well as Sir

I don't think so. According to the extract from Who Was Who (see from Carmania above) he was DAAG and Acting APM at HQ London District until 1920, which posts he was unlikely to have held unless he was serving, but he received his KBE in 1918.

I am sure there is a simple explanation, but I really don't know what it is!

David

[Carmania]

David

Some additional information:

On the 14th December 1905 he gave evidence before the 'Committee on Civil Employment of Ex-Soldiers and Sailors'. On the 22nd February 1916 he gave evidence before the 'Committee on Settlement and Employment of Sailors and Soldiers on the Land'. On the 19th June 1919 he gave evidence before the 'Select Committee on Pensions', and this is the first question addressed to him by the chairman Sir Montague Barlow -

Aled