Laurence Oliphant (British Army officer)

General Sir Laurence James Oliphant, KCB, KCVO, 9th of Condie and 31st Chief of Clan Oliphant (14 December 1846 – 6 July 1914) was a British Army general who reached high office in the early years of the twentieth century.

Military career

Oliphant was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards,^[1] and served in the Sudan Campaign in 1885. He was in command of the Grenadier Guards during the 1890s. He was promoted to major general on 26 November 1898, and in February 1900 received a temporary appointment commanding the Militia at Aldershot.^[2][3] Later the same year he went to South Africa to serve in the Second Boer War, being mentioned in despatches.^[4]

He was appointed Major General commanding the Brigade of Guards and General Officer Commanding the Home District in 1903 and then General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Northern Command in 1907; he retired in 1911.^[4]

He later held the office of Justice of the Peace for Perthshire.^[4]

Family

Laurence was the only son of Laurence Oliphant, 8th of Condie, Member of Parliament for Perth who died when Laurence was sixteen.^[5][6] In 1878 he married Hon. Mary Monica Gerard and together they went on to have two sons and a daughter.^[4] His ancestral seat, Newton of Condie, was destroyed by fire in 1864.

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