Francis Lloyd ( British Army officer ) Lieutenant General Sir Francis Lloyd GCVO KCB DSO ( 12 August 1853 – 26 February 1926 ) was a British army officer . He rose to become Major - General commanding the Brigade of Guards and General Officer Commanding London District . Family and early life . He was the eldest son of Colonel Richard Lloyd , Grenadier Guards of Aston Hall , Oswestry , Shropshire , and his wife Lady Frances Hay , daughter of the 11th Earl of Kinnoul . He was sent to Harrow School , but left after three years . Military career . Lloyd was commissioned as a sub - lieutenant into the 33rd ( or The Duke of Wellington ' s ) Regiment in 1874 . He transferred to his father ' s regiment , the Grenadier Guards , later that year . Two years later he was promoted to full lieutenant . He obtained his captaincy in 1885 and in the same year took part in the Suakin Expedition as signalling officer to the Guards Brigade . He was mentioned in dispatches for his service at the Battle of Hasheen . He was appointed regimental adjutant of the Grenadier Guards in 1889 . In 1892 he was promoted to major . He became Commandant of the School of Instruction for Militia and Volunteers in 1894 and Commander of the Guards Depot in 1896 . In 1898 he was again promoted to the rank of lieutenant - colonel . He took part in the Nile Expedition and fought at the Battle of Khartoum in 1898 , again being mentioned in dispatches and receiving the Distinguished Service Order . He was Commanding Officer of 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards throughout the Second Boer War and was severely wounded at Biddulphsberg in Orange River Colony . He was made a Companion of the Bath in April 1901 . He was promoted to the rank of brevet colonel in 1902 and was Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion of his regiment from 1903 to 1904 . In 1904 he became Commander of 1st ( Guards ) Brigade at Aldershot with the rank of Brigadier - General . He was made General Officer Commanding the Welsh Division , Territorial Force in 1909 and appointed a Commander of the Victorian Order . On the occasion of the coronation of George V in 1911 he was made a Knight Commander of the Bath . In 1913 , at the age of 60 , his command of the Welsh Division expired . He was promoted to Major - General commanding the Brigade of Guards and General Officer Commanding London District . First World War . During World War I , he was responsible for the defence of London , particularly from attack by Zeppelin s , and was given delegated powers over trains and hospitals . In 1915 he was appointed to the largely honorary position of colonel of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers . He was made Knight of Grace of the Order of St John in 1916 . In 1917 he was requested to continue in command of London District , and was promoted to Lieutenant - General . In September 1918 he was appointed Grand Cross of the Victorian Order . Lloyd was awarded a number of decorations by the states allied to the United Kingdom : the Belgian Order of the Crown and two Serbian orders : the Order of St . Sava and the Order of the White Eagle . Retirement . With the ending of the war , Sir Francis relinquished the command of London District in 1919 , taking up instead the position of Food Commissioner for London and Home Counties . In 1920 was placed on the retired list . In retirement he became a member of London County Council representing Fulham East . He made his home at Rolls Park in Chigwell , Essex where he died in February 1926 . He was survived by his wife Mary née Gunnis of Leckie , Stirlingshire . The couple had no children . His funeral service was held at the Guards Chapel , Wellington Barracks on 4 March and he was buried at Aston Hall on the following day .