Geoffrey Arbuthnot


Sir Geoffrey Schomberg Arbuthnot, was a senior officer in the Royal Navy.

Naval career

Born in Havant, Hampshire, on 18 January 1885, Arbuthnot was the son of Admiral Charles Ramsay Arbuthnot and Emily Caroline Schomberg. Educated at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Arbuthnot joined the Royal Navy in 1900 and fought in the First World War, where he was mentioned in despatches and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1919. He was appointed Naval Member of the Ordnance Committee at Woolwich in 1927 and then given command of the cruiser in 1929. He went on to be Deputy Director of Training in 1932, Director of Training and Staff Duties in 1933 and Commander of the destroyer flotillas in the Home Fleet in 1934 before being given command of in 1935. He was made Naval Aide-de-Camp to King George VI in 1936. In 1937 he became Fourth Sea Lord and Chief of Supplies and Transport. He also served in the Second World War and, having been Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station from 1941 to 1942, Arbuthnot was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath and a Knight of the French Legion of Honour. He was Chairman of the Honours and Awards Committee from 1942 to 1945 when he retired.

Family

On 22 October 1913, he married Jessie Marguerite Henderson, second daughter of William Henderson of Berkeley House, Frome. They three children; Mary Marguerite, Lieutenant Peter Charles Reginald and Michael Geoffrey Henderson .