Philip Ravenhill

Major General Philip Ravenhill CB (9 February 1828 – 24 February 1891) was a Royal Engineer who rose to be the commanding royal engineer in Gibraltar.

Ravenhill was born at the Manor House in Warminster in 1828 the second son of John Ravenhill and Sophia Harriet (born Ripley). John Ravenhill was the Chairman of the North Wiltshire Banking Company and he eventually moved to Ashton Gifford House and in 1870 his father became High Sheriff of Wiltshire.

After receiving his commission in 1846 he was sent to Plymouth and then to Malta where he married Jane Carter who came from a notable Royal Navy Family on 31 March 1853 at St.Paul’s Anglican Cathedral, Valletta.

In 1854 he was at the Crimea taking part in the Battle of Alma, the Battle of Inkerman and the Siege of Sebastapol. He had to return to the UK in 1855 with a throat infection.

After a brief desk job his obituary says that he supervised the building of the Royal Victoria Hospital including arranging for Queen Victoria to lay the foundation stone. This was done on 19 May 1856.

He became a Colonel on the Staff of the Chief Royal Engineer in Gibraltar in November 1882 commanding the Royal Engineers. He took over from Colonel Ewart. Ravenhill became an honorary Major-General when he was retired at the age of 58. Feeling refreshed from 17 years of mild climate he returned to England where he took a leading role in charity work chairing the Royal School for Daughters of Officers of the Army as well as a leading role with the Royal Soldiers' Daughters' School.

Ravenhill died in Kensington after suffering from bronchitis.