Colonel Richard Arthur Sargeaunt was born in Stanwick, Northamptonshire in November 1840 and gazetted to the Royal Engineers as a Lieutenant in December 1861. Employed as an Assistant Field Engineer in the Abyssinia Expedition of 1867-68, he was Mentioned in Despatches by Colonel Wilkins (London Gazette 3.6.1868 refers). Sargeaunt went on to enjoy steady promotion over the next two decades and was advanced to Colonel in August 1894, prior to being placed on the Retired List in the following year.