ASTON, Maj Gen Sir George (Grey) (1861-1938)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0099 KCLMA Aston, G G
Held at	: Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.kingscollections.org/catalogues/lhcma ›
Full title	: ASTON, Maj Gen Sir George (Grey) (1861-1938)
Date(s)	: Created 1892-1933
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 15 boxes or 0.15 cubic metres
Name of creator(s)	: Aston | Sir | George (Grey) | 1861-1938 | Knight | Major General
Detailed catalogue	: Click here to view repository detailed catalogue

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Born in 1861; educated at Westminster School and Royal Naval College, Greenwich; joined Royal Marine Artillery, 1879; served in Sudan, 1884; member of the Foreign Intelligence Committee, Admiralty, 1886; service in the Naval Intelligence Department, Admiralty, 1887-1890; Staff College, 1891; Intelligence Officer, Mediterranean Fleet, 1892-1895; Professor of Fortification, Royal Naval College, Greenwich, 1896-1899; served in Boer War, South Africa, 1899-1900; Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, Royal Marines, 1901; Secretary to Naval Reserves Committee, 1902; Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, Staff College, 1904-1907; Brig Gen, General Staff, South Africa, 1908-1912; publication of Defence of United South Africa as a part of the British Empire (Cape Times, Cape Town, 1910); publication of Letters on Amphibious Wars (John Murray, London, 1911, 1920); ADC to the King, 1911-1917; attached to Headquarters Staff, South African Forces, 1912; Special Service, Admiralty War Staff, 1913-1914; publication of Staff Duties and other Subjects (Hugh Rees, London, 1913); Chairman of the Committee on Defence of Admiralty Oil Reserves, 1914; commanded expeditions to Ostend and Dunkirk, 1914; publication of Sea, Land and Air Strategy (John Murray, London, 1914); Commandant, 1914-1917; Maj Gen and retired, 1917; publication of The Triangle of Terror in Belgium (John Murray, London, 1918); employed in secretariat of the War Cabinet, 1918-1919; publication of War Lessons New and Old (John Murray, London, 1919); Memories of a Marine: an amphibiography (John Murray, London, 1919); Mostly about Trout (G Allen and Unwin, London, 1921); The Problem of Defence (P Allan and Co, London, 1925); Letters to young flyfishers (P Allan and Co, London, 1926); The Navy Today (Methuen and Co, London, 1927); The Study of War for Statesmen and Citizens (Longmans and Co, London, 1927, 1973); The Life of Nelson (London, 1928); The Biography of the late Marshal Foch (Hutchinson and Co, London, 1929); His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (G G Harrap and Co, London, 1929); The Great War of 1914-1918 (Thornton Butterworth, London, 1930); Secret Service (Faber and Faber, London, 1930); editor of Hamley's Operations of War and of the Study of War (1927).

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Photocopies of diaries, 1899-1926; newspaper cuttings relating to Army Training Reports, 1925-1932; articles including those on World War One, Marshal Ferdinand Foch and sea diplomacy and law, 1929-1930; correspondence, 1892-1933, including Dardanelles campaign, 1917.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Arranged in sections as above.

Conditions governing access:

Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use onlye only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, attention of the Director of Archive Services.

Finding aids:

Detailed catalogue available on-line at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/iss/archives/, and in hard copy in the Centre's reading room.

Archival Information

Archival history:

The papers were placed in the Centre by the family in 1974. They were removed by the family in 1982 and transferred to the Royal Marines Museum, Eastney. The collection now at LHCMA consists of photocopies of the most significant material.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Aston family.

Allied Materials

Related material:

The originals are held at the Royal Marines Museum, Eastney. The balance of the collection at Eastney consists of further newspaper cuttings relating to army training reports by Aston 1921-1925 and 1933 and reviews of his books; further writings, 'Four years in Africa: 1909-1912' (1929), transcript of 'Eleven years: 1909-1914' (1933), 'Some reflections by Edward Grey' (1939) edited letter by Aston with correspondence from publishers, correspondence relating to Neumann diary (1928), article 'Dutchman at Trafalgar' and related correspondence (1929), articles and lectures relating to British sea power 1830-1930 (1930,1933), copies of lectures on 'Nelson in battle'(1928), agreements and correspondence about Aston's literary works (1918-1930); further correspondence, including Aston's correspondence with and notes on Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, envelope of 'correspondence with Lord Grey returned by G[eorge] M[acaulay] Trevelyan' (1902-1903), letters on the loss of MHS VICTORIA (1893), letters from Sidney Whiteman about Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, lectures on imperial strategy, combined operations and correspondence (1905-1919); pamphlets 'HMS VICTORY: a history' by Commander Wharton (1878), 'War time speeches' by F M Jan Christian Smuts (1917), 'The defence of Duffer's Drift' (1912); British Gazette nos. 6, 7 and 8 (1926)

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:

Date(s) of descriptions:
Sep 1999