Galloping Major

MAJOR GEORGE HALL McLAUGHLIN (1859-1914) my grandfather, not only looked dashing at the age of 39 in his field officer's dress uniform, he also had kings of England and Ireland for ancestors, but like most McLaughlins he was living beyond his overdraft.

Ethel Pawley, aged 23, was well-endowed with looks and lucre, but she was ashamed that her father had made his money in trade. Drawn to each other by affinities which it would be ungallant to specify, they married in 1899: at St. George's Hanover Square, a church dedicated to serving the spiritual needs of London's most upper class citizenry.

When they married Ethel bought George out of the army. He no longer had to worry about mess bills, but he may have regretted the end of his military career

Because his father, Major-General Edward McLaughlin, was a Gunner, and because he adored horses, George had joined the Royal Horse Artillery. Queen Victoria signed her name at the top of his commission in December 1878. He was stationed at the Woolwich Depot. In 1886 was promoted to captain and achieved his majority soon after.



Below right is George's sabretache, a leather satchel suspended on the left side by three long straps from his sword-belt. In gold embroidery an inch high are the royal arms over a cannon and two mottoes Ubique (Everywhere) and Quo Fas et Gloria Ducunt (Whither Right and Glory Lead) granted to the Royal Regiment of Artillery by King William IV in 1832. (When I was a gunner sergeant Ubique was generally translated as "all over the place.") In 1901 it was announced that the new King had been "graciously pleased" to approve the abolition of cavalry officers' sabretaches.

George is pictured above wearing the Egypt Medal (shown here on the extreme left) and the Khedive's Star, awarded to soldiers who fought in Egypt between 1882 and 1889. His Star is dated 1882, which proves that he took part in the military campaign to restore the pro-British Khedive of Egypt after a nationalist had seized power.

In the following nine months Gladstone made no fewer than five pledges to pull the British out of the country. They finally went home - in 1954. How good it must be to believe that no Prime Minister or American President would let a similar thing happen nowadays.

George is not wearing the silver medal (shown right) which was given to him as an officer involved in Queen Victoria's Diamond (60th) Jubilee Parade in 1897, indicating that the photograph was taken before then.

The portrait below was made shortly before George's death in 1914. His grave in Brompton Cemetery, London, is marked by a simple granite calvary inscribed with only his name and dates, presumably because his widow Ethel, a Christian Scientist, believed that death is but an illusion.

© 2006 G. Harry McLaughlin.
Reproduction or transmission, in whole or in part, for other than personal use is prohibited without advance permission from Dr. G. H. McLaughlin.