At the time of the 1891 England Census William B. Drury, aged 15, born in Queensland, naval cadet, R. Navy, was with his uncle Mark H. Drury and his family at 22 Stephens Rd., Paddington St. Mary, London.
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The death is reported from Egypt of Colonel (El Miralai) William Byron Drury, Bey, Acting Commander, R.N., and Director of Sudan Government Steamers. He was the third son of the late Colonel E. R. Drury, C.M.G., and was born at Brisbane on April 19, 1875, and died at Cairo on June 20, 1917. Having secured a Royal Navy cadetship through the aid of the late Sir Arthur Hunter Palmer, K.C.M.G., then acting Governor of Queensland, he joined the Britannia in 1889. Whilst on the Britannia he gained note as an athlete—running, football, and hockey being his chief branches of sport. On leaving the well-known old training ship he served on the North American station as a midshipman, and whilst there won the Admiral's Cup on two occasions in fleet sailing regattas. He next served on the Mediterranean station, and took part in the landing at Crete. When on the Mediterranean station he volunteered for service in Egypt, and was, with five others, selected to take charge of gunboats on the Nile, under Lord Kitchener. On the final defeat of the Dervishes by Kitchener he was sent with his brother officers to clear the Nile of sud and spent a year or more on this project. Whilst sud cutting he contracted black-water fever, from which, however, after a life and death struggle, he recovered. He also during this period was present at the taking of Fashoda. He next served as a sub-lieutenant on the China station, but at the instigation of Sir Reginald Wingate (then Sirdar for the Sudan) he returned to Egypt, and was appointed a major in the Egyptian Army, and made controller of Ports and Lights of the Sudan. He played a prominent part in the construction of Port Sudan, and for his services received special promotion to the rank of colonel (El Miralai) and became a Bey. He was the youngest major, and subsequently the youngest Bey in the Egyptian service. In 1913 Drury Bey was promoted to the position of Director of the Sudan Government Steamers, which appointment gave him full control of the whole of the Nile shipping and of the docks and other repairing depots. When on the Nile and cutting expedition he received the Royal Humane Society's Medal for saving the life of a native in that alligator infested river. He also received the Order of the Medijieh from his Highness the Sultan for his services at Port Sudan. Last year he received promotion to the rank of acting commander from the Admiralty. The local members of the deceased's family (brothers and sisters) have received a cablegram from the Sirdar conveying the condolences of his Highness the Sultan, and General Sir Reginald Wingate, as well as those of the Sirdar himself, and the late Drury Bey's brother officers.
The Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld), Saturday, 7 Jul 1917, p. 40
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