Victoria's New Secretary

Arthur John Bigge has been appointed by Queen Victoria to be her private secretary, in place of Sir Henry Ponsonby, who has been very ill for some time. Sir Arthur is said to have remarkable courtesy, talent, and tact. He was Lieut.-Col. Bigge of the Royal Artillery, when appointed, but the Queen made him a knight as a further mark of her esteem. Sir Arthur Bigge, K. C. B., C. M. G., comes of an old Northumbrian family, being the son of the late Rev. J. F. Bigge, vicar of Stamfordham, Northumberland. He is in his 46th year. Entering the Royal Artillery in 1869, he successively became captain in 1880, major in 1885, and lieutenant-colonel in 1893. He served through the campaign in Zululand in 1878-79, and was mentioned in dispatches. In the latter year he was appointed aid-de-camp to Sir Evelyn Wood. The French Prince Imperial, when attached to the Royal Artillery, became acquainted with Lieut. Bigge, whose intímate friend he remained until the young Prince's tragic death in South África. He beeame groom-inwaiting in 1880, and seven months later was appointed assistant private secretary to the Queen. The ability with which he performed these duties marked him out for further promotion in the royal household, and this was not long in coming. In 1881 he was made equerry - in - ordinary. In that year Bigge married Constance, daughter of the late Rev. W. F. Neville.