William Furse

Lieutenant General Sir William Thomas Furse, (21 April 1865 – 31 May 1953) was a senior British Army officer who served as Master-General of the Ordnance during the First World War.

Early life and family
Furse was born in Staines, Middlesex, the second son of the Ven. Charles Furse (born Johnson), Archdeacon of Westminster, and Jane Diana Monsell, second daughter of John Samuel Bewley Monsell, vicar of Egham. He was educated at Eton College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. The artist, Charles Wellington Furse, and the bishop, Rt. Rev. Michael Furse, were his younger brothers.

Furse was the father of the artist and designer Roger Furse and the actress Judith Furse.

Military career
Furse was commissioned into the Royal Artillery as a lieutenant on 5 July 1884. He was aide-de-camp to Lord Roberts from 1891 to 1893, and was promoted to captain on 30 May 1893.

Furse served during the Second Boer War as a Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General (DAQMG) at Army Headquarters, and was promoted to major on 15 March 1900. Following the end of the war in June 1902, Furse was on 15 October appointed DAQMG to the 2nd Army Corps based at Salisbury Plain. In 1911 he was appointed commander of the 12th (Howitzer) Brigade Royal Field Artillery.

Furse served in the First World War, initially as a General Staff Officer on the British Expeditionary Force and then as General Officer Commanding 9th (Scottish) Division from 1915. He was made Master-General of the Ordnance in 1916; in this capacity he opposed the introduction of the Madsen machine gun, preferring the Lewis gun. He retired in 1920.