Dudley Colles

Commander Sir Ernest Dudley Gordon Colles KCB KCVO OBE (5 April 1889 – 13 July 1976) was an Irish Royal Navy officer and courtier, who served in the Royal Households of George VI and Elizabeth II.[3]

Sir Dudley Colles
Born5 April 1889[1]
Kilkenny, Ireland[2]
Died13 July 1976(1976-07-13) (aged 87)
London, England
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service1906-1932
RankCommander
Battles/warsFirst World War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Other workCourtier

Colles was educated at Winchester College and was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1906. He served as a Naval Paymaster for 26 years, and saw active in the First World War. He became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in June 1919.[4] He subsequently became Secretary to the Third Sea Lord and Second Sea Lord, followed by a period serving as the Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station. Colles retired as a Paymaster Commander in 1932.[5]

After leaving the Navy, Colles joined the Royal Household as a Secretary of the Privy Purse. In 1936, while working as the Registrar of the Royal Victorian Order,[6] he was invested as a Member of that order,[7] and he was advanced to Commander in 1943.[8] Between 1941 and 1952 he served as Deputy Treasurer to George VI, and held the same position in the household of Elizabeth II from 1962 to 1958. In 1949 he was made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order and in 1953 he became a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. In 1958, he became an Extra Equerry to the Queen.

Colles also received honours from several foreign governments, including being made a Knight Commander of the Danish Order of the Dannebrog, a Commander of the Dutch Order of the House of Orange and a Knight Commander of the French Legion of Honour.[9]

References
  1. "Colles, Ernest Dudley Gordon". The National Archives. 15 July 1906. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  2. Ireland, Civil Registration Births Index, 1864-1958
  3. "Obituary: Commander Sir Dudley Colles". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 14 July 1976. p. 16.
  4. "No. 31398". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 1919. p. 7509.
  5. DNW Auctioneers (Lot 1117, 25-26 JUNE 2014) Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  6. "No. 33893". The London Gazette. 16 December 1932. p. 8030.
  7. "No. 34238". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1936. p. 7.
  8. "No. 36033". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 June 1943. p. 2423.
  9. DNW Auctioneers (Lot 1117, 25-26 JUNE 2014) Retrieved 22 October 2015.
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