19 Facts About William Peyton

William Peyton was Delhi Herald of Arms Extraordinary at the time of the Delhi Durbar of 1911.

The third son of Colonel John Peyton, commanding officer of the 7th Dragoon Guards, Peyton was educated at Brighton College.

In 1885, William Peyton enlisted in the ranks in the 7th Dragoon Guards, a regiment that his father had commanded between 1871 and 1876.

William Peyton was seconded to the Egyptian Army and saw service with the Dongola Expeditionary Force in 1896, and was mentioned in despatches, then in the Sudan in 1897 and 1898, where he was dangerously wounded and his horse killed under him by a spear.

William Peyton was awarded the Order of the Medjidieh, Fourth Class.

William Peyton passed the army's Staff College in December 1901.

In October 1903 William Peyton took command of the 15th Hussars, which he commanded for four years, until October 1907 when he was placed on half-pay.

William Peyton had been granted the brevet rank of colonel in April 1905, while in command of his regiment.

William Peyton returned to England in 1914 on the outbreak of the First World War and took up a new post as GSO1, or chief of staff, of the 1st Mounted Division, a Territorial Force formation.

William Peyton then commanded the Western Frontier Force in Egypt in 1916, leading an expedition against the Senussi and re-occupying Sidi Barrani and Sollum, again being mentioned in despatches.

In May 1916, after success as a combat commander, William Peyton was transferred to the Western Front to become the military secretary to General Sir Douglas Haig.

William Peyton was knighted in 1917, being made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order when King George V visited the troops in the field.

William Peyton next returned to India, to command the United Province district and the 3rd Indian Division at Meerut between 1920 and 1922.

William Peyton was promoted substantive lieutenant general in August 1921.

William Peyton was next posted as military secretary to the Secretary of State for War, from 1922 to 1926, and as general officer commanding-in-chief of Scottish Command, a post he held from February 1926 until he relinquished it in February 1930, during which time he had been to promoted general in June 1927.

William Peyton is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London, just to the north-west of the chapel.

William Peyton was unusually tall, with a height of six feet, six inches.

On 27 April 1889, William Peyton married Mabel Maria, daughter of late Lt-General the Hon.

William Peyton was Initiated in Lodge Logonier, No 2436, and was made an Honorary Member of Lodge Holyrood House, No 44, on 24 March 1923.