Background
Born in 1854, the second son of General Sir William John Codrington, he was educated at Harrow and entered the Coldstream Guards in 1873.
Born in 1854, the second son of General Sir William John Codrington, he was educated at Harrow and entered the Coldstream Guards in 1873.
Harrow School.
He first saw active service during the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882, where he was mentioned in despatches. He later commanded the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards in the Second Boer War between 1899 and 1902, where he was wounded twice, mentioned in despatches, and given a brevet promotion as Colonel. He commanded the 1st London Division of the Territorial Force from 1908 to 1909, when he was appointed Major-General commanding the Brigade of Guards and General Officer Commanding London District, retiring from this post in 1913.
He returned to duty after the outbreak of the First World War, serving as the Military Secretary to Lord Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War from August until October 1914.
He was then appointed to command Third Army in the Home Forces. This was based around Luton, and contained four Territorial divisions and two Territorial cavalry brigades.
He relinquished command in 1916. His final military position was the ceremonial colonelcy of the Coldstream Guards, to which he was appointed in 1918.
Unusually, this had been a position previously occupied by his father.
He was appointed chairman of the Society of Miniature Rifle Clubs in 1917, and President of the Association in 1932.
He was appointed to sit on a Pensions Appeal Tribunal in the summer of 1917, which dealt with appeals against governmental decisions on military pensions, and later published a book on War Pensions: Past and Present, co-authored with Edward Abbott Parry, another member of the Tribunal.