Grandson of Major General James Hanson Salmond, Military Secretary to the East India Company and author of The Mysore War,[1] William Salmond was born the son of Lieutenant Colonel James Salmond (1805–1880) and Emma Isabella Coke (d. 1886), daughter of D'Ewes Coke (1774–1856) and Harriet Wright.[2][3][4] He studied at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in October 1857.[3]
Salmond was appointed an Instructor in Musketry in November 1872 and took part in the Anglo-Egyptian War in 1882, during which he was mentioned in despatches.[3] He became Assistant Director of Works (Barracks) at the War Office in April 1883, Assistant Adjutant-General for the Royal Engineers in October 1884 and Assistant Quartermaster-General in April 1886.[3] He went on to be Commander, Royal Engineers for the Home District in July 1890, Deputy Inspector-General of Fortifications at the War Office in May 1891 and finally Deputy Adjutant-General for the Royal Engineers in 1896.[3] He continued in this role during the Second Boer War and stepped down as it ended in June 1902,[5][3] retiring from the army on 25 August.[6] In the October 1902 South African Honours list, he was promoted to a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB),[7] and he was invested with the insignia of the order by King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace on 18 December 1902.[8]
Salmond died at his home at Whaddon House near Bruton in Somerset on 8 November 1932.[3]
