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Augustus FitzGeorge — news, coverage & facts — IJR

Military career

FitzGeorge followed in his father's footsteps by serving in the British Army. He attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and was gazetted in December 1864 as an ensign into the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. On 24 January 1865, FitzGeorge transferred from the 37th Regiment of Foot to become ensign in the Rifle Brigade. While serving in the Rifle Brigade, he was stationed in Montreal with the 1st Battalion for five years, from 1865 to 1870. On 14 July 1869, he was promoted to a lieutenant in the Rifle Brigade.

In 1870, FitzGeorge was appointed aide-de-camp to General Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala, Commander-in-Chief of India and served in this position from 1870 until 1875. While in India, he was part of the suite that accompanied Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) during his visit there from September 1875 until May 1876.

FitzGeorge was promoted to captain in the Rifle Brigade in November 1877, and on 20 March 1878, he transferred as a captain to the 11th Hussars, which were then stationed at Colchester Garrison. He served with the 11th Hussars at Aldershot Garrison, Cavalry Barracks, Hounslow, and Birmingham. While FitzGeorge was stationed at Aldershot, his regiment was ordered to embark for service at the Cape of Good Hope following the outbreak of the First Boer War. However, this order was cancelled soon after, and he missed his first and only opportunity for active service. In July 1881, FitzGeorge was promoted to major in the 11th Hussars. He became extra aide-de-camp to Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald Alison, 2nd Baronet, who was in command of troops at Aldershot Garrison on 1 December 1883. FitzGeorge served Alison for two years. In May 1886, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the 11th Hussars. The Duke of Cambridge appointed FitzGeorge to serve as his equerry-in-waiting and private secretary on 11 August 1886. In 1888, he attained the military rank of brevet colonel in the 11th Hussars.

While his father continued to reside officially at Gloucester House, his mother lived at nearby 6 Queen Street, which FitzGeorge inherited, along with all of its furniture, following her death in 1890. By 1895, he had moved into Gloucester House to live with his father and manage his affairs. When the Duke of Cambridge relinquished his role as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces on 1 November 1895, FitzGeorge was reverted to half-pay, as he was no longer private secretary to the commander-in-chief position. However, he continued to serve as his father's private secretary and equerry. FitzGeorge retired from the military on 1 November 1900.

As equerry to the Duke of Cambridge, FitzGeorge accompanied his father as an attendant to significant British royal engagements, including: the funeral of his grandmother, Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge, on 13 April 1889; the wedding of his cousin Princess Mary of Teck and Prince George, Duke of York, at Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, on 6 July 1893; the funeral of his aunt, Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck, at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 3 November 1897; and the funeral and funeral procession for his uncle Francis, Duke of Teck, at St George's Chapel, Windsor, on 27 January 1900.

His father served as the head of the British Army as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces from 1856 to 1895, spanning most of FitzGeorge's military career. Regarding his career in the British Army, FitzGeorge remarked, "Throughout my life, I found my parentage rather a hindrance than a help." He said that his father was so concerned with being accused of favouritism that when FitzGeorge was up for an appointment against another officer, the other officer received the appointment. Following his many travels throughout his military career, FitzGeorge claimed to have hunted every type of big-game in the world.

Later life

The Duke of Cambridge died on 17 March 1904, and FitzGeorge and his brother Adolphus travelled by carriage in his funeral procession. Despite being the sons of the Duke of Cambridge, royal protocol relegated them to the ninth carriage in the procession, following the British royal family, official mourners, and foreign diplomats.

Following their father's death, FitzGeorge and Adolphus became active in civic and charitable activities in London. FitzGeorge was appointed the same year Knight Commander in the Royal Victorian Order (K.C.V.O.).

In December 1904, they were involved with the development of a golf course on their father's Coombe estate in Kingston Hill. The Crown had granted the estate to their father. In 1911, FitzGeorge and his brother served on an honorary committee for the Ancient Art Exhibition at Earls Court in the summer of that year. He and Adolphus also attended the dedication of an extension of the Wimbledon and Putney Commons in July 1911. FitzGeorge and Adolphus continued a longstanding family tradition of distributing gifts of blankets and flannels to the employees of the former Duke of Cambridge's Coombe estate at Christmas. When the FitzGeorge family's Coombe estate was sold in December 1932, it consisted of over 700 acres (280 ha) between Kingston Hill and New Malden, and included three golf courses: Coombe Hill, Coombe Wood, and Malden.

FitzGeorge was also engaged in several business pursuits. He served as the executive chairman of the Cobalt Townsite Silver Mining Company of Canada, which had a silver mine in Cobalt, Ontario, during the Cobalt silver rush. By the company's first annual meeting in December 1907, its mine had already shipped 117 tonnes (115 long tons; 129 short tons) of ore carrying 40,000 ounces (1,100,000 g) of silver. He also served as the chairman for the Casey Cobalt Mining Company.

In November 1913, the brothers were named as godparents (along with their cousin Queen Mary) to their great-nephew Victor FitzGeorge-Balfour, and attended his christening at Savoy Chapel. FitzGeorge-Balfour was the son of FitzGeorge's niece, Mabel Iris FitzGeorge and her husband Robert Shekelton Balfour.

On 1 February 1924, FitzGeorge sustained injuries in a vehicle accident in Kingston Hill while being driven in a taxicab. The accident occurred after the driver became ill and lost control of the vehicle, causing it to turn over onto a pavement. FitzGeorge was wounded by broken glass in the accident.

By 1933, FitzGeorge served as the president of the National Health League, an organization that claimed a membership of approximately 2,000 British physicians. The league was organised after ten years of planning, and in July 1933, it took issue publicly with the British Medical Association and with germ theory as the sole cause of disease. The National Health League contended that environmental factors also played a role in illness, emphasised the importance of preventive healthcare and accused the British medical establishment of operating for profit. At a meeting of health experts, FitzGeorge claimed that the British Army rejected 75 per cent of recruits for having preventable medical conditions.