Major-General Neville Gerald Lyttleton was born on 28 October 1845 in Hagley, Worcestershire, in the UK and educated at Eton.
He was commissioned as a junior officer into the Rifle Brigade in January 1865.
He saw service in the South African War (1899-1902) as Commander of the 4th Brigade and was involved in the Battle of Spioen Kop and in the other battles which resulted in the Relief of Ladysmith later that month.
He was in command of the troops in Natal until the end of the war and then stayed on in South Africa as Commander-in-Chief of the whole of South Africa.
