Lovick Friend

Friend won a prize for artillery whilst at the Woolwich and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1874 as a Temporary Lieutenant. His commission was made permanent in 1876 and he spent time stationed in Ireland and Hong Kong before being appointed as an instructor at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in 1883 and promoted to captain in 1885. In 1885 he was made Secretary of the Royal Engineers Experimental Committee and served in the British West Indies, training the West Indies Fortress Company, before being promoted to major in 1893. He was posted to Egypt in 1897 and served as a staff officer in charge of organising supplies during the Anglo-Egyptian invasion of Sudan in 1898 before being attached to the Intelligence Department before the Battle of Omdurman where he was an aide to Sir Herbert Kitchener, the commander in chief of British forces. He was mentioned in dispatches after the battle and received the Khedive's Sudan Medal and Queen's Sudan Medal as well as the Order of Osmanieh, fourth class. He was Director of Works and Stores for the Egyptian Army from 1900 to 1904, during which he received the Order of Medjidie, third class. He subsequently held a variety of roles both in Egypt and in Britain in the years before the First World War. Promotions continued and Friend rose to the rank of major general in June 1912. He was appointed Major-General in charge of Administration at Irish Command in 1912 and succeeded Sir Arthur Paget as Commander-in-Chief,…

Friend played cricket for the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and then regularly for the Royal Engineers Cricket Club after he was commissioned in 1873. He was one of the club's most prolific batsmen in its history and served as its secretary for many years. He was described in his Wisden obituary as a "good wicket-keeper", and scored 10 centuries for the RE, his first in 1877 and five during the 1885 season alone. In 1885 he made 198 runs against Band of Brothers, who included Lord Harris, a key administrator and the captain of Kent County Cricket Club at the time. Friend made his first-class cricket debut for Kent during the following season, playing against Sussex at Hove. In total Friend played six first-class matches, scoring 189 runs at an average of 17.18 runs per innings. He played twice more for Kent in 1887 as well as appearing for I Zingari against the Gentlemen of England the same year. In 1888 he played for the Gentlemen of England against Oxford University, making his highest first-class score of 72 runs, and his final first-class appearance was for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) against Kent at Lord's in 1891. He played Army and club cricket, making his highest score of 208 for United Services Portsmouth in 1897, the last year he played for the RE. Whilst serving in the Far East he played for Hong Kong Cricket Club in 1880. He played for South Northumberland and Northumberland between 1887 and 1891 whilst stationed at Newcastle-upon-Tyne and such as Free…

Friend was born at Halfway Street near Sidcup in Kent in 1856, the fourth son of wealthy merchant Frederick Friend and his wife Fanny (née Tyrell). He grew up at the family home, Woollett Hall at North Cray, and was educated at Cheltenham College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He was a mathematics scholar at Cheltenham and was awarded the Dobson Scholarship and the Cheltonian Society Prize in 1872, his final year at school. Although his Times obituary said that he was "proficient in all games, at cricket being exceptionally good", he did not play for the College XI, despite showing what his Wisden obituary described as "good batting form".

Friend spent time during his retirement in South Africa and Australia. He died in a nursing home at West Kensington in London on 19 November 1944 aged 88.