Laurence Drummond

Major-General Laurence George Drummond, (13 March 1861 – 20 May 1946) was a British Army officer.

Drummond saw active service in the Bechuanaland Expedition (1884–1885), the Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War (1895–1896), the Soudan Expedition, the Second Boer War, and the Great War of 1914–1918, and retired to Kent in 1920 to become a magistrate and a keen gardener.

Early life The only son of Admiral Sir James Robert Drummond, a younger son of Viscount Strathallan, by his marriage to Catherine Frances Elliot, Drummond was educated at Eton College and from 1874 to 1877 was second Page of Honour to Queen Victoria.

Military career After training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, but in September transferred to the Scots Guards.

Drummond saw active service on the Bechuanaland Expedition of 1884–1885 in command of a troop of Methuen's Horse, The next day, 5 May 1886, Drummond married Katherine Mary Antrobus, the daughter of Hugh Lindsay Antrobus and Mary Adam and a granddaughter of Admiral Sir Charles Adam. but he interrupted this posting in 1899 to return to South Africa, accompanying a Canadian contingent joining the war. One historian has said of Drummond's interlude in Canada –

Drummond commanded the Kimberley Mounted Infantry from 1899 to 1900, being again mentioned in despatches and serving as a staff officer with the 1st Division. After the Boer War he was appointed Assistant Staff Officer to the inspector general of the Forces, then in 1904 was promoted lieutenant-colonel (later the same year brevet colonel) commanding the 3rd Battalion, Scots Guards. He was then, at his own request, placed on half-pay and was promoted to colonel in January 1908 He reverted to normal pay in October when he was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general and took command of the 3rd (UK) Division's 7th Infantry Brigade, taking over from Hubert Hamilton.

He retained command of the brigade until October 1912 when he was again placed on half-pay and, relinquishing his temporary brigadier's rank, reverting to his substantive rank of colonel. In February 1913 he was promoted major general.

He served in the First World War of 1914–1918, initially as commander of the 19th Infantry Brigade, when he was again mentioned in despatches but held no divisional commands. He was placed in command of a reserve centre in June 1915 and retired from the service in 1920.

Retirement In retirement Drummond lived at Sissinghurst Place, Cranbrook, Kent, and he was appointed a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for the county. He was a member of the Turf and Bath Clubs

Drummond died on 20 May 1946 at the age of 85.