Charles Cameron Shute

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General Sir Charles Cameron Shute KCB DL (3 January 1816 – 30 April 1904) was a British army officer and Conservative politician. He was born at Burton House, Christchurch, the eldest son of Thomas Deane Shute and Charlotte Cameron. He went to Winchester College and married Rhoda Dowler in 1858; they had several children, including Cameron Dinsdale Deane Shute.

Shute joined the army in 1834 as a cornet in the 13th Light Dragoons and saw action in India in 1839, where he was promoted to lieutenant. He moved to the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons in 1840. In the Crimean War he rose to major in 1854 and acted as second in command, serving as assistant adjutant general of the cavalry division from 1854 to 1856. He was mentioned in despatches for Balaclava and was recommended for the Victoria Cross. He earned honors from abroad, including the French Legion of Honour and the Turkish Order of the Medjidie (3rd Class). Shute fought at Inkerman and the Siege of Sevastopol, and was brevet lieutenant colonel and commanding officer of the 6th Dragoons from 1855 to 1860.

He retired on half pay in 1861 as a brevet colonel but returned in 1862 as commanding officer of the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards, remaining in command until 1871. He was promoted to major general and was made a Companion of the Bath in 1869. From 1873 to 1879 he served as honorary colonel of the 1st Sussex Rifle Volunteer Corps.

In 1874 Shute was elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament for Brighton, serving one term; the Liberal Party won back both Brighton seats in 1880. In 1878 he was promoted to lieutenant general and became honorary colonel of the 16th (The Queen's) Lancers, a position he held while retiring from active service in 1881 but keeping the colonelcy. In 1886 he became colonel of the 6th Dragoons, a post he held until his death. He was made an honorary general and Knight Commander of the Bath in 1889. In retirement he served as a magistrate and deputy lieutenant for Hampshire and Sussex.

Shute died at his home, Dinsdale, in Bournemouth on 30 April 1904, aged 88, after a brief illness. He was buried at the Extra-Mural Cemetery in Brighton.