Alexander Gore Arkwright Hore-Ruthven

Under fire at Gedarif on 22 September 1898, Captain Alexander Hore-Ruthven saw an Egyptian officer lying wounded within fifty yards of advancing Dervish fighters. Serving with the Egyptian Army during the Sudan campaign, Hore-Ruthven went forward, picked up the wounded man and began carrying him toward the 16th Egyptian Battalion. With the enemy following, he was forced to put the officer down several times so that he could turn and fire, checking their advance before continuing the rescue. His actions earned him the Victoria Cross, the first awarded to an officer of the Militia. The Gazette The official citation published in The London Gazette on 28 February 1899 recorded: "On the 22nd Sep 1898, during the action of Gedarif, Captain Hore-Ruthven, seeing an Egyptian officer lying wounded within 50 yards of the advancing Dervishes, who were firing and charging, picked him up and carried him towards the 16th Egyptian Battalion. He dropped the wounded officer two or three times, and fired upon the Dervishes, who were following, to check their advance. Had the officer been left where he first dropped, he must have been killed."

The final sentence restores the portion omitted from the previous biography. The important geographical point is also now correct: the wounded officer was within fifty yards of the advancing Dervishes, not necessarily fifty yards in front of the Egyptian defensive position. Windsor Local History Group Hore-Ruthven received his Victoria Cross from Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle on 11 May 1899. Days later he received a regular commission as a second lieutenant in the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, having previously served as a captain in the 3rd Battalion, Highland Light Infantry. He remained involved in operations in the Sudan and was mentioned in despatches during the campaign. victoriacrossonline.co.uk Born at Windsor on 6 July 1872, Alexander Gore Arkwright Hore-Ruthven was the second son of Walter James Hore-Ruthven, 8th Baron Ruthven, and Lady Caroline Annesley Gore, daughter of the 4th Earl of Arran. Educated at Winchester and Eton, he later worked in the tea trade and on a plantation in Assam before returning to Britain and entering military life. He joined the 3rd Battalion, Highland Light Infantry, and travelled to Egypt in 1898, where he was temporarily attached to the Egyptian Army and commanded the Slavery Department Camel Corps. Australian Dictionary of Biography For his Sudan service he was appointed to the Ottoman Order of Osmanieh, Fourth Class. He later served as a special service officer during the Somaliland campaign of 1903 to 1904 and was present at the action of Jidballi, service for which his Africa General Service Medal carried two clasps. His career subsequently moved toward imperial staff appointments. From 1904 to 1908 he served as military secretary to successive Lords Lieutenant of Ireland, and in 1908 he accompanied Lord Dudley to Australia when Dudley became Governor-General. Hore-Ruthven's appointment as military secretary introduced him to Australian public life decades before he would return as a governor in his own right. Australian Dictionary of Biography When the First World War began, Hore-Ruthven returned to active service. He served in France from late 1914 and transferred to the Welsh Guards as a major in April 1915. He subsequently served with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force at Gallipoli, where he was severely wounded at Suvla. Returning to duty, he held increasingly senior staff and command appointments on the Western Front and was mentioned in despatches five times. He received the Distinguished Service Order, was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, and in 1919 became a Companion of the Order of the Bath. Australian Dictionary of Biography By 1918 he held the temporary rank of brigadier-general and commanded the Highland Brigade of the 9th Division. His leadership during operations east of Ypres from 28 September to 27 October 1918 brought him a Bar to the Distinguished Service Order. The citation particularly noted the fighting on 20 October at St Louis, where he went forward among the attacking troops at a critical moment and helped inspire the final effort that secured tactically important high ground. Douglas History His First World War service also brought foreign recognition. He received the Croix de Guerre from both France and Belgium, while his broader decorations included the Danish Order of the Dannebrog. His surviving honours group is now associated with the Lord Ashcroft Collection and displayed at the Imperial War Museum. Lord Ashcroft After the war Hore-Ruthven commanded the Welsh Guards from 1920 to 1924 and then the 1st Brigade of Guards at Aldershot until his retirement from the regular army in 1928. He left military service with the rank of brigadier-general and was appointed Governor of South Australia, having also been advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. He later became Governor of New South Wales. In 1933 he was appointed a Knight of Grace of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, not a Knight of Justice, as confirmed by the contemporary London Gazette notice. Australian Dictionary of Biography Created Baron Gowrie of Canberra and Dirleton in 1935 and appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George, he assumed office as Governor-General of Australia on 23 January 1936. His tenure encompassed the death of Prime Minister Joseph Lyons in 1939, the political transitions that followed, and the formation of John Curtin's wartime government in 1941. His military experience gave him a close interest in Australia's wartime administration, and he undertook inspection tours that included Papua and New Guinea. Australian Dictionary of Biography The war also brought personal tragedy. In 1942 his only surviving son, Major Alexander Hardinge Patrick Hore-Ruthven, was killed on active service in North Africa. Another son had died in infancy, making "only surviving son" the historically correct description. Lady Gowrie later established the Gowrie Garden at Government House in Patrick's memory. victoriacrossonline.co.uk Lord and Lady Gowrie physically left Australia on 10 September 1944, but his departure did not mark the legal end of his term. His appointment as Governor-General continued until 30 January 1945, when the Duke of Gloucester formally succeeded him. His service from January 1936 to January 1945 remains the longest tenure of an Australian Governor-General. Australian Dictionary of Biography His elevation to an earldom was a separate event. In January 1945, after his departure from Australia, Alexander Gore Arkwright, Baron Gowrie, was created Viscount Ruthven of Canberra and Earl of Gowrie. The creation was formally recorded in the London Gazette of 12 January 1945, rather than occurring as part of his 1944 departure. The Gazette Back in Britain, the Earl of Gowrie served as Deputy Constable and Lieutenant-Governor of Windsor Castle until 1953. He died on 2 May 1955 at his home in Shipton Moyne, near Tetbury, Gloucestershire, aged eighty-two, and was buried in the churchyard of St John the Baptist at Shipton Moyne.