Bruce Gordon Seton

Col Sir Bruce Gordon Seton CB FRSE 9th Baronet of Abercorn (1868–1932) was an early 20th-century military surgeon and historian. In heraldry and the peerage he is known as Seton of Abercorn.

Life

He was born on 13 October 1868 the son of Col Alexander Reginald Seton, of the Royal Engineers, and his wife, Emma Elizabeth Loch.[1]

He is thought to have trained in Medicine at Edinburgh University and Barts, being awarded M.R.C.S. and L.R.C.P. London in 1891. He then underwent military training at Sandhurst, as was the family tradition.

He joined the Indian Medical Service as a Surgeon Lieutenant in January 1892 and was promoted to Surgeon Captain in January 1895, to Major in January 1904 and to Lieutenant-Colonel in January 1912. [2] He served on the North-West Frontier at the Khyber Pass in 1894, being severely wounded at Kaniguram in this campaign. He served further in the Tochi Valley Campaign of 1897. By 1899 he had reached the rank of Captain.[3] He was granted the brevet rank of Colonel on 30 June 1913 and was Colonel by 1914.[4]

In the First World War he was Officer Commanding at the Kitchener Hospital in Brighton, focussing on the medical treatment of Indian troops injured in France and Flanders. In 1917 he became Deputy Director General of the Indian Medical Service and was awarded CB in the 1917 Birthday Honours.

In 1915, following the death of his uncle, Robert Maxwell Seton, he became 9th Baronet of Abercorn.

In 1926, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Sir James Alfred Ewing, John Gray McKendrick, Walter Biggar Blaikie and James Lorrain Smith.[5]

He died in Edinburgh on 3 July 1932.

His medals were sold at auction in 2012.[6]

Publications

  • Cavalry Elementary Veterinary Manual (1895)
  • The Indian Medical service (1911)
  • The Pipes of War (1920)
  • The Prisoners of the Forty-Five (1928)

Family

In 1895 he married Elma Armstrong (d.1960), daughter of Lt Col Frank Hugh Armstrong.[7]

They had two daughters and two sons, who held the baronetcy consecutively, the second being the actor Bruce Seton.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.thepeerage.com/p57440.htm
  2. ↑ "Awards to the Medical Services from the Collection of the late Tony Sabell". DNW. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  3. ↑ Whitakers Naval and Military Directory and Indian Army List 1899
  4. ↑ The Indian Year Book 1914
  5. ↑ Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0 902 198 84 X.
  6. ↑ https://www.dnw.co.uk/auction-archive/special-collections/lot.php?specialcollection_id=30&lot_id=218310
  7. ↑ http://www.thepeerage.com/p57440.htm#i574400
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