QUEEN VICTORIA (GREAT BRITAIN) - MILITARY APPOINTMENT SIGNED 05/04/1883 CO-SIGNED BY: SPENCER COMPTON (8TH DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE) CAVENDISH - HFSID 167470

QUEEN VICTORIA
Appointment of a Lieutenant of the Land Forces, also signed by the Marquess of Hartington (the future Eighth Duke of Devonshire)
Military Appointment signed: "Victoria R.I." as Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India in brown ink. Also signed "Hartington" as Secretary of State for War. 1 page, 16x12. St. James Court, London, England. 1883 April 4. Appointment of August Arthur Faulknor a Lieutenant of the Land Forces, effective on May 12. QUEEN VICTORIA (1819-1901), the last member of the House of Hanover to reign (from 1837) as a British monarch, ruled the United Kingdom longer than any other monarch before or since. Her 63-year reign endeared her to her subjects, and she gave her name to an era, the Victorian Age. Until the very end of her reign, when the rising powers of Germany and the United States began to challenge its primacy, Victoria's British Empire was incontestably the world's greatest economic and military power. Her Husband, Prince Albert, an able political figure himself, was the Queen's close advisor until his death in 1861. The royal pair had nine children - four sons and five daughters. Victoria's reign was celebrated with two jubilees, honoring her 50 and 60 years on the throne. Spencer Compton Cavendish (1833-1908) was known as Lord Cavendish and then as the MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON (1858-1891), before inheriting his highest title as the 8th Duke of Devonshire in 1891. He had the distinction of leading three separate parliamentary parties: the Liberals in the House of Commons (1875-1880), the Liberal Unionists in Commons (1886-1891), and the Unionists in the House of Lords (1903). His high government posts included Lord of the Admiralty, Postmaster General, Chief Secretary for Ireland, Secretary of State for India, and Secretary of State for War. He was 3 times offered the position of Prime Minister, refusing each time, not from a want of ambition, but because circumstances were unsuitable. He broke with Liberal Prime Minister Gladstone over the issue of Irish Home Rule, and increasingly aligned the Liberal Unionists with the Conservative Party. (The two would merge in 1912.) Some observers opined that Cavendish displayed an avid interest in sports, particularly in tennis and horse racing, in order to mask his political ambition. Multiple folds. Creased and toned. Otherwise, fine condition.