Charles Staveley

Sir Charles Staveley
Sir Charles Staveley
Born	18 December 1817
Died	23 November 1896 (1896-11-24) (aged 78)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	General
Commands held	Commander of British Troops in China and Hong Kong Western District Bombay Army
Battles/wars	Crimean War Second Opium War Force sent to Abyssinia
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

General Sir Charles William Dunbar Staveley GCB (18 December 1817 – 23 November 1896) was a British Army officer.

He was born at Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, the son of Lt-General William Staveley and Sarah Mather, and educated at the Scottish military and naval academy, Edinburgh.

He was commissioned as second lieutenant in the 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) on 6 March 1835. He became a lieutenant on 4 October 1839, and captain on 6 September 1844. From July 1840 to June 1843 he was aide-de-camp to the Governor of Mauritius, where his regiment was stationed, and where his father was acting Governor during part of that time. On his return home, he was quartered at Glasgow, and saved a boy from drowning in the Clyde at imminent risk of his own life, as he was not yet fully recovered from a severe attack of measles.

He exchanged to the 18th Foot on 31 January 1845, and to the 44th on 9 May. From 15 June to 11 May 1847 he was aide-de-camp to the Governor General of British North America. An admirable draughtsman, his sketches proved very useful during the settlement of the Oregon boundary question in 1846. He was assistant military secretary at Hong Kong, where his father was in command, from 20 March 1848 to 27 February 1851.

He had become a major in the 44th Regiment of Foot on 7 December 1850, and went with them to Turkey in 1854. When the regiment embarked for the Crimea he was to have been left behind on account of illness, but he hid himself on board until the vessel sailed.

He was present at Alma and at Balaclava, where he acted as aide-de-camp to the Duke of Cambridge. On 12 December 1854 he became a lieutenant-colonel in his regiment. The 44th belonged to Sir William Eyre's brigade of the third division, and took part in the attempt on the dockyard creek on 18 June 1855, and in the capture of the cemetery - the sole success achieved. Staveley was mentioned in dispatches (London Gazette, 4 July) and was made CB. He also received the Crimean Medal with three clasps, the Sardinian and Turkish medals, and the Medjidia (fifth class).