Edward Hamilton ( British Army officer ) Major - General Sir Edward Owen Fisher Hamilton KCB ( 17 February 1854 – 30 March 1944 ) was an officer of the British Army during the late 19th century . Originally a junior officer in the Queen ' s Royal Regiment , he oversaw signalling in the Indian Army during the late nineteenth century , before commanding a battalion and then a brigade in the South African War . He was later the commanding officer for Army forces in West Africa and Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey before retiring in 1914 ; on the outbreak of the First World War , he briefly returned from retirement to command a division in the New Armies . Early career . Hamilton was born in Ireland in 1854 , and after studying at the Hermitage School , Bath , joined the Army as a lieutenant in the 1st Battalion , Queen ' s Royal Regiment , in 1873 . He served in the Second Anglo - Afghan War from 1878 to 1880 as the aide - de - camp to General J . M . Primrose , and was mentioned in despatches . In 1883 he was promoted to captain , and served with the 2nd Battalion in the Third Anglo - Burmese War before being appointed a brigade - major under Sir William Lockhart in 1887 . He then was appointed a brigade - major at Cawnpore from 1887 to 1888 , continuing in India as the Inspector of Signals in the Punjab and Bengal from 1888 to 1893 . During this period , he oversaw signals in the Hazara Expedition of 1891 . He married Isabel Harris , daughter of General Philip H . F . Harris , in 1886 ; they would have one son and two daughters . The best man at their wedding was Hubert Hamilton , a fellow captain in the regiment . He served in the Tochi Valley in 1895 under Lockhart , and served on the staff of the Malakand Field Force in 1897 . He returned to field service that same year with the 2nd Battalion , Queen ' s Royal Regiment , as the second - in - command of the Tirah Expedition , with a brevet - promotion to Lieutenant Colonel . Regimental and senior command . He commanded the 2nd Battalion , Queen ' s Royal Regiment during the early stages of the South African War , in 1899 , and then commanded 2nd Brigade from April 1900 to 1902 . For his services in South Africa , he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath and mentioned in despatches . On leaving South Africa in 1902 he was appointed to command the 1st Brigade of the Secunderabad Division in India , promoted to Major - General in 1906 and relinquishing command in 1907 . He was general officer commanding of Army forces in West Africa from 1908 to 1911 , and then Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey — and correspondingly commander of the forces in Guernesy and Alderney — from 1911 to his retirement in 1914 . Shortly after his retirement , following the outbreak of the First World War , he was brought back to serve as the first commander of the newly raised 20th ( Light ) Division in the New Armies . He held the command less than a month before handing over to Richard Hutton Davies , a New Zealand officer who had been invalided home from the Western Front . His final military position was a purely ceremonial one ; from 1914 to 1920 he was colonel - in - chief of the Queen ' s Royal Regiment . References .