Sir

Sir

Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...

 William Bernard Hickie (21 May 1865 – 3 November 1950) was an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 born Major General

Major General

Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

 of the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 and an Irish nationalist

Irish nationalism

Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...

 politician.

His titles included C.B.

Order of the Bath

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

, awarded in 1912 and K.C.B.

Order of the Bath

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

 awarded 1918. As a member of the British Army he served 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...

 from 1899 to 1902; A.Q.M.G.

Quartermaster general

A Quartermaster general is the staff officer in charge of supplies for a whole army.- The United Kingdom :In the United Kingdom, the Quartermaster-General to the Forces is one of the most senior generals in the British Army...

, in the Irish Command from 1912 to 1914 and in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 from 1914 to 1918. He commanded a Brigade of the British Expeditionary Force in 1914 and was Commander of the 16th (Irish) Division from 1915 on the Western Front

Western Front (World War I)

Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...

.
William Hickie was born on the 21 May 1865 as eldest of eight children of Colonel James Francis Hickie (1833-1913) in Slevyre (Slevoir

Slevoir, North Tipperary

Slevoir is a townland in the Barony of Ormond Lower, North Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the Civil Parish of Terryglass overlooking Slevoir Bay, the most north-eastern part of Lough Derg...

), Terryglass

Terryglass

Terryglass is a village in North Tipperary, Ireland. The village is located on the R493 regional road on the north-eastern shore of Lough Derg near where the River Shannon enters the Lough. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Ormond Lower. It is also an Ecclesiastical parish in the...

, Borrisokane

Borrisokane

Borrisokane is a town in North Tipperary, Ireland. In 2006 it had a population of approximately 1,145. It is situated on the N52/N65 National secondary road between Nenagh and Portumna and the N52 between Nenagh and Birr. It is close to Lough Derg which is only 12 km to the west. It is a...

, County Tipperary

County Tipperary

County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...

, and his wife, Lucila Larios y Tashara (d.1880) of Castile

Castile (historical region)

A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...

.