Men of the Time, eleventh edition/Biddulph, Robert
BIDDULPH, Sir Robert, K.C.M.G., is son of the late Mr. Robert Biddulph, of Ledbury, Herefordshire, by Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. George Palmer, M.P., of Nazing Park, Essex. He was born in London, Aug. 26, 1835, and educated at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He was appointed second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in 1853; captain in 1860; major in the army in 1861; lieutenant-colonel in 1864; colonel in 1872; brigadier-general in 1879; and major-general in Cyprus in July, 1879. He was Deputy Assistant-Adjutant-General in India from 1858 to 1860; Military Secretary in China in 1860–61; Military Secretary in Madras from 1861 to 1865; and Deputy Assistant-Quartermaster-General at Woolwich from 1868 to 1871. He was one of the assistant Boundary Commissioners under the Reform Act of 1867, and acted as private secretary to Mr. Cardwell when that statesman was Secretary for War, in 1871–73. From 1873 to 1878 he was Assistant Adjutant-General at headquarters; in March, 1879, he was nominated Her Majesty's Commissioner for arranging the payment due to the Turkish Government under the Convention concluded in the previous year; and in May, 1879, he was appointed High Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief of the island of Cyprus, on the transfer of Sir Garnet Wolseley to Natal. He was nominated a Companion of the Order of the Bath (military division) in 1877, and created a Knight Commander of the Order of SS. Michael and George in 1880. He married, in 1864, Sophia, daughter of the Rev. A. L. Lambert, rector of Chilbolton, Hampshire, and widow of Mr. R. Stuart Palmer.