Hon. Maurice Raymond Gifford CMG

Order of St Michael and St George

The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....

 (5 May 1859 – 1 July 1910) was a British military officer.

Biography

Born at Ampney Park, Gloucester, he was the son of Robert Francis Gifford, 2nd Baron Gifford

Robert Francis Gifford, 2nd Baron Gifford

Robert Francis Gifford, 2nd Baron Gifford, , was a British peer.He succeeded in the barony on 4 September 1826. On 2 April 1845, he married the Hon. Frederica-Charlotte-Fitz-Hardinge, eldest daughter of Maurice Berkeley, 1st Baron FitzHardinge, and had issue:* Eva Gifford, 4. 21 February 1846 -...

, and the brother of Edric Gifford, 3rd Baron Gifford

Edric Gifford, 3rd Baron Gifford

Major Edric Frederick Gifford, 3rd Baron Gifford VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....

. On the completion of his education he entered the Merchant Service, and was on board the training ship Worcester for three years. In 1878, he entered the service of the British Steam Navigation Company, in which he remained until 1882, visiting many parts of the globe. That same year he fought in the Mahdist War

Mahdist War

The Mahdist War was a colonial war of the late 19th century. It was fought between the Mahdist Sudanese and the Egyptian and later British forces. It has also been called the Anglo-Sudan War or the Sudanese Mahdist Revolt. The British have called their part in the conflict the Sudan Campaign...

 and served as assistant correspondent to the Daily Telegraph at the time of the engagement of Tel-el-Kebir. He then went to Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 for 11 years and fought in the Red River Rebellion

Red River Rebellion

The Red River Rebellion or Red River Resistance was the sequence of events related to the 1869 establishment of a provisional government by the Métis leader Louis Riel and his followers at the Red River Settlement, in what is now the Canadian province of Manitoba.The Rebellion was the first crisis...

 as one of French's Scouts under Lord Minto, earning a medal and clasp. Next, Gifford went to South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 and became General Manager of the Bechuanaland Exploration Company and soon became involved in the First Matabele War

First Matabele War

The First Matabele War was fought in 1893-1894 between the British South Africa Company military forces and the Ndebele people. Lobengula, king of the Ndebele, avoided outright war with the British settlers because he and his advisors were mindful of the destructive power of the European weapons...

, 1893. In the Second Matabele War

Second Matabele War

The Second Matabele War, also known as the Matabeleland Rebellion and in Zimbabwe as the First Chimurenga, was fought in 1896–97 between the British troops and the Ndebele people....

, 1896, he was part of the Bulawayo Field Force during the Siege of Bulawayo

Bulawayo

Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...

, raised Gifford's Horse, and lost his right arm to a Nbatabele bullet. In the Second Boer War

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...

 he was attached to the Imperial Yeomanry

Imperial Yeomanry

The Imperial Yeomanry was a British volunteer cavalry regiment that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Officially created on 24 December 1899, the regiment was based on members of standing Yeomanry regiments, but also contained a large contingent of mid-upper class English volunteers. In...

 and was part of the Rhodesian Horse. He participated in the Relief of Mafeking.

He married Marguerite Thorold, the daughter of Capt Thorold of Boothby, on 21 September 1897. Among the presents Gifford gave to his wife at the wedding, was the bullet that cost him his arm. He set it in Matabele gold and arranged it so that the yellow metal formed a double-headed serpent.

On 1 July 1910, while undergoing a rest cure for nervous breakdown, Col. Gifford met his death from a fire caused by his clothes being set alight by a cigarette.