Arthur Meade, 5th Earl of Clanwilliam

Who was Arthur Meade, 5th Earl of Clanwilliam?

Arthur Vesey Meade, 5th Earl of Clanwilliam MC, styled Lord Gillford between 1905 and 1907, was a British Army officer and politician.

Arthur Meade was the second, but eldest surviving, son of Admiral of the Fleet Richard Meade, 4th Earl of Clanwilliam, and Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Arthur Kennedy GCMG CB, governor of various colonies including Queensland, Hong Kong and Vancouver Island.

He was educated at Eton and joined the Royal Horse Guards, becoming a captain in 1900. In the following year he was seconded to serve with the 30th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry, in the South African war, as major and second-in-command. He was mentioned in despatches, and was severely wounded, after which he served as Assistant Provost Marshal and Staff Captain. After a short time in India as an extra ADC to the viceroy, Lord Curzon, he returned to England in 1904 and served as adjutant of the Royal Horse Guards until 1907, retiring and becoming a captain on the Reserve of Officers on his marriage in 1909. Since the death of his brother in 1905 he had borne the courtesy title Lord Gillford and two years later, on the death of his father, he became the fifth Earl of Clanwilliam.