General Sir William Gordon Cameron (Chinese translated Name: 金馬倫; 16 October 1827 – 2 March 1913) was a British soldier and colonial administrator.
Military career William Gordon Cameron was commissioned into the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot in 1844.DNW Medal Auction, 30 June 1994. Retrieved 16 February 2020 He transferred to the Grenadier Guards in 1847. In 1854 he was deployed to the Crimean War and took part in the Battle of Alma. He was appointed Commanding Officer of 3rd Regiment of the British German Legion in 1855.
In 1867 he became Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion 4th King's Own Royal Regiment and led the capture of Magdala during the British Expedition to Abyssinia.
In 1875, he became commander of a brigade at Gibraltar and in 1875 of a brigade at Aldershot. In April 1881 he was appointed General Officer Commanding Northern District. Then in 1884 he became Commander of British Troops in China, Hong Kong and the Straits Settlements. He governed Hong Kong in a period between April 1887 to October 1887.Legislative Council Order No.38 Retrieved 16 February 2020
He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 5th (West Middlesex) Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps in 1880.
From January 1891 to December 1892 and then again in May to July 1894 he was Administrator of the Cape Colony.Cape Colony Administrators He retired in 1895.
Family General Sir William Gordon Cameron was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel William Gordon Cameron J.P. (1790–1856) and his wife Caroline née Edwards (1801–1872), and the elder brother of Colonel Aylmer Cameron VC, who won the Victoria Cross in 1858 during the Indian Mutiny.Obituary of Aylmer Cameron. The Times, 12 June 1909, page 11.
He married Helen Colebrooke Mary, daughter of General Sir John Hunter Littler, GCB on 20 January 1857 in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Buckfastleigh, Devon, England.
Memory Several places in Hong Kong were named after Cameron: Cameron Road and Cameron Lane in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, as well as Mount Cameron and Mount Cameron Road.
References