Walter Edgeworth-Johnstone
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Walter Edgeworth-Johnstone was an Irish sportsman and police official. He was the 1895 and 1896 Amateur Boxing Association of England heavyweight champion. He was Chief Commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police from 1915 to 1923.Biography
He was born Walter Johnston in 1863 in Kingstown, County Dublin, Ireland. He later changed his name by deed poll to Edgeworth-Johnstone. In 1895 and 1896 he was Amateur Boxing Association of England heavyweight champion. He was also an excellent footballer and cricket player, and won numerous titles in fencing.
He was commissioned a lieutenant in the Royal Irish Regiment on 25 August 1886, and promoted to captain on 5 April 1893. In February 1900 he was appointed to act temporarily as Assistant Inspector of Gymnasia at Aldershot. He transferred to the Curragh Camp where he was Superintendent of Gymnasia from 5 February 1901 to 30 September 1902.
Edgeworth-Johnstone was Chief Commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police from 1915 to 1923. The unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police stayed largely neutral during the Irish War of Independence. Edgeworth-Johnstone was named a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1918 New Year Honours. He was invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1924, and promoted to lieutenant-colonel.
In 1897, Edgeworth-Johnstone married Helen Gunning Walker Waters. They had two sons and two daughters. One of his sons was Robert Edgeworth-Johnstone, a chemical engineer. He died 4 January 1936 in Regent's Park Terrace, London.
