James Bevan Edwards

Lieutenant-General Sir James Bevan Edwards KCB KCMG (5 November 1835 – 8 July 1922) was a senior British Army officer and politician.

He served with the Royal Engineers in the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny and the Mahdist War. Edwards was also chosen by the British Government to inspect the forces of the Australian colonies in 1889 and to advise on their organisation. He recommended a structure which would enable the colonies to combine for mutual defence, uniform organisation and armament, a common Defence Act, a military college to train officers and a uniform gauge for railways. He was appointed commander of British forces in China in 1888. He was promoted to lieutenant-general in 1891 and became colonel-commandant of the Royal Engineers in 1903. [ [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A040130b.htm Profile] ]

At the 1895 general election, he was elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hythe in Kent, but he resigned his seat in February 1899.

Edwards died in 1922 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London. [ [http://www.brompton.org/Residents.htm Brompton Cemetery site] ]

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