Colvile was born at
Kirkby Hall, Leicestershire, the son of Charles Robert Colvile and Hon. Katherine Sarah Georgina Russell. Colvile was educated at
Eton, and entered the
Grenadier Guards in 1870. He was appointed A.D.C. to General the Hon. Sir
Leicester Smyth, commanding the forces in
South Africa, in 1880. He served on the Intelligence Department of the
Suakin Expedition of 1884, was present at the
Battles of El Teb and the
Battle of Tamai, mentioned in despatches, and received the
bronze star, medal, and clasp. He was employed on special service in the
Sudan prior to the Nile Expedition of 1884–85, and during that Expedition served as D.A.A.G.; was mentioned in despatches; received the clasp, and was created C.B. At the close of the Expedition he was Chief of the Intelligence Department of the Frontier Force; was present at the
Battle of Ginnis; was mentioned in despatches, and was promoted to the rank of
colonel. He was then attached to the Intelligence Department at headquarters, and wrote the official history of the
Sudan Campaign. Colvile was the author of a plan, dated 1892, for a military expedition to
Abeokuta. However, a settlement was reached between the British and the Egba state without the use of military force. The plan is now held at
Derbyshire Record Office among the Colvile family archives (collection D461). In 1893 he succeeded the late Sir
Gerald Portal as Commissioner (Acting) for Uganda, commanded the
Unyoro Expedition, which resulted in the inclusion of that country into the Protectorate; received the
Central Africa Medal, was created Knight Commander of the
Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG), and received the second-class
Order of the Brilliant Star of Zanzibar. He was selected for promotion to the rank of
major-general, 12 April 1898. Later, he became commander of the Infantry Brigade at
Gibraltar in early 1899. He served in the
Second Boer War in
South Africa 1899–1900. During the early part of the war he commanded the
Guards Brigade, including during the
Battle of Modder River in November 1899. He took part in the
Battle of Magersfontein on 10–11 December 1899, in which the defending Boer force defeated the advancing British forces amongst heavy casualties for the latter. Colvile was mentioned in the despatch from
Lord Methuen describing the battle. The following year he was on 10 February 1900 appointed in command of the 9th Division, with the local rank of
lieutenant-general whilst so employed. However, in May 1900, while
Lord Roberts was closing in on Johannesburg, a
Yeomanry battalion under Colvile's command was cut off and forced to surrender, Colvile was made a scapegoat and sent home. He retired 1901. ==Family==