Sir Archibald Alison, 2nd Baronet

General Sir Archibald Alison, 2nd Baronet, (21 January 1826 – 5 February 1907) was a Scottish soldier who achieved high office in the British Army in the 1880s. He was a descendant of the Alison family presented by Francis Galton in Hereditary Genius as an example of genius inherited over several generations.

Military career Born on 21 January 1826, in Edinburgh, the son of Archibald Alison, the advocate and historian, and educated at the University of Glasgow, and the University of Edinburgh Alison was commissioned into the 72nd Regiment of Foot in 1846. He went on to serve at the Siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War in 1855. and was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). He was appointed Assistant Adjutant General in the office of the Inspector General of Infantry in 1862, Assistant Adjutant General for the South Western District in 1864 and Assistant Adjutant General at Aldershot in 1870.

Alison was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1874, and further raised to Knight Grand Cross (GCB) in 1887.

He died on 5 February 1907 and is buried at Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh.

Family In 1858 he married Jane Black. They had two sons and four daughters.