FRENCH, SIR GEORGE ARTHUR

born June 19, 1841, Roscommon, Ire. died July 28, 1921, London, Eng. British soldier in Canada who organized the North West Mounted Rifles (later the North West Mounted Police, then Royal North West Mounted Police, now Royal Canadian Mounted Police). French attended the Royal Military academies at Sandhurst and Woolwich and in 1860 obtained a commission in the Royal Artillery. In 1871 he went to Canada as an inspector of artillery. In 1873 he organized the North West Mounted Rifles and was its first commissioner; he commanded the march from Dufferin, Man., to the foothills of the Rockies in 1874, to establish law and order in the region. He was also head of the School of Gunnery at Kingston, Ont. French resigned his post in Canada in 1876 and returned to serve in the British army, going first to Australia and then to India. He attained the rank of major general in 1900 and was knighted in 1902.