X-Nico

33 unusual facts about Order of the Bath


13th Lancers

General Sir Frank Messervy, KCSI, KBE, CB, DSO & Bar (WWII Commander & First Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army 1947-48)

1815 in the United Kingdom

The Prince Regent divides the Order of the Bath into three classes: the Knights Grand Cross, Knights Commander and Companions.

Battle of Ghazni

The Indian Engineers won a slew of awards with Capt A.C. Peat of the Bombay Sappers winning a Brevet-majority and a C.B..

Charles Warburton Meredith

Air Vice-Marshal Sir Charles Warburton Meredith KBE, CB, AFC, RAFVR (1896-19 April 1977)

Clan Anstruther

William, the elder son of Sir James Anstruther, accompanied Sir James to London following the Union of the Crowns in 1603 where he was made a Knight of the Order of the Bath.

David Boyle, 9th Earl of Glasgow

Rear Admiral David William Maurice Boyle, 9th Earl of Glasgow, CB, DSC (24 July 1910 – 8 June 1984) was a British nobleman and a Royal Navy officer.

Defence Communication Services Agency

The founding CE was Major-General Tony Raper CB CBE, late Royal Signals, he was succeeded by Rear Admiral Rees Ward in 2002 who continued as CE until 2007 when the Agency was disestablished.

Earl S. Hoag

His foreign decorations include the British Honorary Companion, Most Excellent Order of the Bath; the Norwegian Order of St. Olav, Commander with Star; the Chinese Special Collar Order of Yun-Hui, and the French Legion of Honor, Chevalier, and Croix de Guerre with Palm.

Edward Chandos Leigh

The Honourable Sir Edward Chandos Leigh, KCB, KC (on 22 December 1832 – 18 May 1915), was a British cricketer and barrister.

In the New Year´s Honours list 1901 he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB).

Eileen Rubery

Eileen Doris Rubery CB QHP FRCR FFPHM FRCPath (née McDonnell, born 16 May 1943) is a British academic who has worked in such diverse fields as medical research (at one point Senior Medical Officer of the Department of Health), business and management studies, and presently, art history and history.

Geoffrey Rhodes Bromet

Air Vice Marshal Sir Geoffrey Rhodes Bromet KBE CB DSO, DL (28 August 1891 – 16 November 1983) was an Air Vice Marshal during World War II and a former Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man.

George B. Duncan

As a result of his service in World War I, he received numerous decorations, including the Croix de Guerre with two palms and a star and status as a Commander in the Legion of Honor from France, status as a Companion of Order of the Bath from the United Kingdom, and the Distinguished Service Medal from the United States.

George Windle Read

General Read’s awards and decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal and the British Order of the Bath.

Grahame Donald

1 January 1944 - Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath - Acting Air Marshal David Grahame Donald, CB, DFC, AFC, RAF.

Air Marshal Sir David Grahame Donald KCB DFC AFC RAF (27 July 1891 – 23 December 1976), often known as Sir Grahame Donald, was a Royal Naval Air Service pilot during World War I, a senior Royal Air Force officer between the wars and a senior RAF commander during World War II.

1 July 1941 - Companion of the Order of the Bath - Air Vice-Marshal David Grahame Donald, DFC, AFC.

Great Stock Exchange Fraud of 1814

Lord Cochrane was also stripped of his naval rank and expelled from the Order of the Bath.

Henry Jerningham

He was created a Knight of the Bath at Mary's coronation, and shortly thereafter was sworn to the Privy Council.

James Wriothesley, Lord Wriothesley

James Wriothesley, Lord Wriothesley KB (1 March 1605 – 5 November 1624) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1624.

Jang Bahadur Rana

1873-1877: His Highness Commanding-General Sir Jung Bahadur Kunwar Rana, T'ung-ling-ping-ma-Kuo-Kang-wang, Maharaja of Lamjung and Kaski, GCB, GCSI

1872-1873: His Highness Commanding-General Sir Jung Bahadur Kunwar Rana, T'ung-ling-ping-ma-Kuo-Kang-wang, Maharaja of Lamjung and Kaski, GCB

John Campbell, 3rd Earl of Breadalbane and Holland

John Campbell, 3rd Earl of Breadalbane and Holland KB (10 March 1696 – 26 January 1782), styled Lord Glenorchy from 1716 until 1752, was a Scottish nobleman, diplomat and politician.

John Duncan Lowe

John Duncan Lowe CB (1948–98), lawyer, was a former Crown Agent for Scotland and Sheriff of Glasgow and Strathkelvin.

At the early age of 42, in 1991 Lowe was appointed Crown Agent for Scotland and in 1995 was invested CB, (Companion of the Order of the Bath.) In 1997 Lowe was appointed Sheriff of Glasgow and Strathkelvin, a position he held until his death at Edinburgh the following year.

John W. O'Daniel

His decorations include the French Croix de Guerre, the British Order of the Bath, the Italian Silver Medal, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit with three oak leaf clusters, the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart.

Lady Louisa Stuart

Later the same year, Medows married another lady, Frances Augusta Hammerton, and went on to become a Lieutenant-General, a Knight of the Bath, and Governor-General of Madras.

Montagu Bacon

Bacon was the second of the three sons of Nicholas Bacon, Esq., son and heir of Sir Nicholas Bacon, of Shrubland Hall, Coddenham, Suffolk, who was one of the sixty-eight knights of the Bath created, 19 April 1661, by Charles II, "to attend his majesty's coronation" four days late (Thomas Salmon, Chronological Historian, 1747).

Philip Tower

In 1967, he was further appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath, having been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire, and was Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

Sexual Offences Act 1985

In 1991 the Director of Public Prosecutions and head of the Crown Prosecution Service, Sir Allan Green KCB QC, was arrested for an offence under this Act and had to resign.

Sir Frederick Willis

Sir Frederick Willis CB KBE (16 March 1863 - 17 June 1946) was an English lawyer and civil servant.

Tarbert, Argyll and Bute

Sir Donald MacAlister, 1st Baronet of Tarbert KCB (17 May 1854–15 January 1934) was a physician, and principal and vice-chancellor and, later, chancellor of the University of Glasgow.

Twyford, New Zealand

The school was established in the early 20th century by New Zealand Major General Sir Andrew Hamilton Russell KCB, KCMG, who originated from Hawke's Bay and became a farm manager at Twyford.


Alexander Hardinge, 2nd Baron Hardinge of Penshurst

Alexander Henry Louis Hardinge, 2nd Baron Hardinge of Penshurst GCB GCVO MC PC (17 May 1894–29 May 1960) was Private Secretary to the Sovereign during the Abdication Crisis of Edward VIII and during most of the Second World War.

Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network

Recipients in 2009, at an event at 10 Downing Street, were Sir Alex Ferguson, CBE, Sir John Cassels CB, Mike Turner CBE, Brian Turner CBE, and Margaret Gildea OBE.

Arthur Haliburton, 1st Baron Haliburton

Arthur Lawrence Haliburton, 1st Baron Haliburton GCB DL (26 December 1832 - 21 April 1907) was a Canadian-born British civil servant.

Arthur Samuel Allen

Major General Arthur Samuel "Tubby" Allen CB CBE DSO VD (10 March 1894 – 25 January 1959) was an Australian soldier.

Arthur Vivian

Vivian was a county councillor for Glamorgan from 1889 to 1898, He was High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1889 and was awarded the CB in 1894.

Battle of Kandahar

For his services, General Roberts received the thanks of Parliament, and was appointed both Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) and Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in 1880, becoming a baronet the following year.

Crown Prosecution Service

The CPS is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (currently Alison Saunders CB) who answers to the Attorney General for England and Wales (currently Dominic Grieve, QC, MP).

Edward Leopold Dyke Acland

Rear-Admiral Edward Leopold Dyke Acland MVO CB (1878-1968), a member of the Acland Baronetcy, was a rear-admiral and naval attaché to King George V.

Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby

Major-General The Honourable Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby, GCMG, KCB, KCH (6 July 1783 – 11 January 1837), styled The Honourable from 1806 to 1837, was a British military officer, the second son of the 3rd Earl of Bessborough and Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough.

Henry Coey Kane

This event made Kane's career; he was made CB in the Queen's Birthday Honours for 1891, and given command of HMS Victory, a highly prestigious posting, the following year.

Hercules Robert Pakenham

He was made Companion, Order of the Bath (C.B.) 4 June 1815, Knight Commander, Order of the Bath K.C.B. 19 July 1838, and had the Peninsular silver medal and Roleia and Vimeiro clasps.

James Abercromby, 1st Baron Dunfermline

He died at Collinton House, Midlothian, in April 1858, aged 81, and was succeeded in the barony by his son, Sir Ralph Abercromby, KCB, who was Secretary of Legation at Berlin and served as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Sardinia between 1840 and 1851 and to The Hague between 1851 and 1858.

John McAnally

Vice Admiral John Henry Stuart McAnally CB LVO (born 9 April 1945) is a former Royal Navy officer who became Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies.

Joseph Maria Gordon

Major General Joseph Maria Gordon CB (18 March 1856 – 6 September 1929), was an officer in the British Army, later holding the position of Commandant of the South Australian Military Forces and serving in the Second Boer War in South Africa.

Matthew Dixon

Major General Matthew Charles Dixon VC CB (5 February 1821 – 8 January 1905) was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Peter Compston

Vice Admiral Sir Peter Maxwell Compston KCB (12 September 1915 – 20 August 2000) was a Royal Navy officer who became Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic.

Reginald MacLeod of MacLeod

Sir Reginald MacLeod of MacLeod, KCB (1 February 1847 – 20 August 1935) was the 27th chief of the Scottish clan Clan MacLeod.

Robert Jameson

Robert Jameson was the great-uncle of Sir Leander Starr Jameson, Bt, KCMG, CB, British colonial official and inspiration for the Jameson Raid.

Ross Donnelly

Admiral Sir Ross Donnelly, KCB, (c. 1761 – 30 September 1840) was a Royal Navy officer of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who is best known for his service during the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, particularly as a lieutenant on HMS Montagu at the Glorious First of June after the death of Captain James Montagu.

Samuel Herbert Wilson

Brigadier General Sir Samuel Herbert Wilson, GCMG, KCB, KBE (1873-1950) was a British colonial administrator who served as Governor of Trinidad and Tobago between 1921 and 1924.

Sir Charles Monro, 1st Baronet

General Sir Charles Carmichael Monro, 1st Baronet of Bearcrofts, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, (15 June 1860 – 7 December 1929) was a British Army General during World War I and Governor of Gibraltar from 1923 to 1929.

Sir Henry Wilmot, 5th Baronet

Colonel Sir Henry Wilmot, 5th Baronet Wilmot of Chaddesden VC KCB (3 February 1831 – 7 April 1901) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Sir James Carmichael-Smyth, 1st Baronet

Sir James Carmichael-Smyth, 1st Baronet KCH, CB (22 February 1779 – 4 March 1838) was a British colonial administrator.

Sir Walter Gilbert, 1st Baronet

He was made a KCB in April 1846 and again commanded a division under Gough in the Second Anglo-Sikh War, at the 1849 battles of Chilianwala and Gujrat before leading his division (which included Robert Napier) across the Jhelum River to pursue the remnants of the Sikh army and receiving their surrender on 3 and 6 March.

Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 9th Baronet

Sir (Robert William Herbert) Watkin Williams-Wynn, 9th Baronet, KCB, DSO, of Bodelwyddan in the County of Flint, and of Gray's Inn in the county of Middlesex (1862 – 1951), was a Welsh soldier and landowner.

Stephen Berthon

Vice Admiral Sir Stephen Ferrier Berthon KCB (24 August 1922 - 30 January 2007) was a Royal Navy officer who became Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Operational Requirements).

The Grove, Watford

The fourth earl was a statesman, diplomat (architect of the Quadruple Alliance of 1834), Lord Privy Seal, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, President of the Board of Trade, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Knight of the Garter, Knight Grand Cross of the Bath, and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

Theodore McEvoy

Air Chief Marshal Sir Theodore Neuman McEvoy KCB CBE RAF (21 November 1904 – 19 September 1991) was a senior Royal Air Force officer during World War II who held high command in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Thomas Renny-Tailyour

Colonel Thomas Francis Bruce Renny-Tailyour CB CSI (8 June 1863–10 June 1937) was a British Army officer and surveyor.

Thomas St. Leger

Sir Thomas St Leger KB (c. 1440 – executed 8 November 1483) was the second son of Sir John St Leger of Ulcombe, Kent, and his wife, Margery Donnet.

United Services College

Colonel Edward Douglas Browne-Synge-Hutchinson, VC, CB (attended United Services College Day Boy 1875).

Walter Aston, 1st Lord Aston of Forfar

In 1603, at the coronation of King James I of England, Aston was honoured with the Order of the Bath at which Michael Drayton the poet acted as his esquire (Aston had become his patron and between 1602 to 1607 Drayton decicated five of his works to Sir Walter).

William Mansfield, 1st Baron Sandhurst

General William Rose Mansfield, 1st Baron Sandhurst, GCB, GCSI, DCL (21 June 1819 – 23 June 1876), was a British military commander who served as Commander-in-Chief of India from 1865 to 1870.