James Fergusson

Admiral Sir James Andrew Fergusson, (16 April 1871 – 13 April 1942) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies Station.

Naval career Born the son of Sir James Fergusson, 6th Baronet and Lady Edith Christian Ramsay, Fergusson joined the Royal Navy in 1887. He served as a lieutenant on board the cruiser HMS Barrosa when in January 1900 he was landed in Cape Colony to take part in the Second Boer War, during which he was wounded, mentioned in despatches and promoted to commander on 21 October 1900, for services during the war. In 1902 he was posted to the battleship HMS Royal Sovereign, which in August commissioned as coast guard ship at Portsmouth.

He served in World War I commanding the battleships HMS Benbow and HMS Thunderer and seeing action at the Battle of Jutland in 1916. they had four daughters. Her elder sister Eila married Vernon Reed in 1909; he represented the electorate in the New Zealand House of Representatives.

Fergusson's elder brother Sir Charles Fergusson, 7th Baronet, was 3rd Governor-General of New Zealand (1924–1930).