The Right Honourable

The Lord Grenfell
Lord Grenfell
Born29 April 1841
Swansea, Wales
Died27 January 1925 (aged 83)
Windlesham, Surrey
Buried
Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1859–1908
RankField Marshal
Commands heldEgyptian Army
4th Army Corps
Commander-in-Chief, Ireland
Battles/wars9th Xhosa War
Anglo-Zulu War
Anglo-Egyptian War
Mahdist War
AwardsKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
Other workPilgrims Society
Church Lads' Brigade
Winchester Cathedral, memorial for Field Marshal Lord Grenfell showing his coat of arms: Gules, on a fess between three clarions or a mural crown of the first.[1]

Field Marshal Francis Wallace Grenfell, 1st Baron Grenfell, GCB, GCMG, PC (Ire) (29 April 1841 – 27 January 1925) was a British Army officer. After serving as aide-de-camp to the Commander-in-Chief, South Africa, he fought in the 9th Xhosa War, the Anglo-Zulu War and then the Anglo-Egyptian War. He went on to become Sirdar (Commander-in-Chief) of the Egyptian Army and commanded the forces at the Battle of Suakin in December 1888 and at the Battle of Toski in August 1889 during the Mahdist War. After that he became Governor of Malta and then Commander-in-Chief, Ireland before retiring in 1908.[2]

Early life and career

Born in Maesteg House, Swansea on 29 April 1841, the fourth son of Pascoe St Leger Grenfell and Catherine Anne Grenfell (née Du Pre), and grandson of Pascoe Grenfell, Francis Wallace Grenfell was educated at Milton Abbas School in Dorset but decided to leave school early.[3]

Military career

Grenfell purchased a commission as an ensign in the 3rd Battalion of the 60th Royal Rifles on 5 August 1859.[4] He then purchased promotion to lieutenant on 21 July 1863[5] and to captain (in the last year in which purchase was allowed) on 28 October 1871.[6] He became aide-de-camp to Sir Arthur Cunynghame, Commander-in-Chief, South Africa, in 1874.[7] After taking part in the Battle of Quintana in February 1878 during the 9th Xhosa War in 1878, he was promoted to brevet major on 11 November 1878.[8] He next fought at the Battle of Ulundi in July 1879 during the Anglo-Zulu War and then returned to England to become brigade major at Shorncliffe Army Camp shortly before he was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel on 29 November 1879.[7] He became brigade major of an infantry brigade in South Africa in April 1881[9] and, having been promoted to the substantive rank of major on 1 July 1881,[10] he fought at the Battle of Tel el-Kebir in September 1882 during the Anglo-Egyptian War.[7] Promoted to brevet colonel on 18 November 1882, he was made aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria that same year.[3]

Grenfell became Deputy Sirdar (Commander-in-Chief) of the Egyptian Army in late 1882 and, after commanding the Egyptian troops stationed at Aswan during the Nile Expedition, he became Sirdar himself in April 1885.[7] He was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath on 25 August 1885,[11] and having led his troops at the Battle of Ginnis in December 1885, was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant-colonel on 7 January 1886.[12] He was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 25 November 1886.[13] He went on to command the forces at the Battle of Suakin in December 1888 and at the Battle of Toski in August 1889 during the Mahdist War and was promoted to major-general for distinguished service in the field on 3 August 1889.[14] In recognition of the transformation he had achieved in making the Egyptian Army a successful fighting force, he was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) on leaving Egypt on 25 May 1892.[15]

The Battle of Toski, at which Grenfell commanded the British forces, during the Mahdist War

Returning to England Grenfell became Deputy Adjutant-General at the War Office in 1892 and Inspector General of Auxiliary Forces at the War Office in August 1894.[16] He returned to Egypt as commander of the British Troops in Egypt (under the new Sirdar) in 1897, and having been promoted to lieutenant-general on 1 April 1898,[17] he was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 15 November 1898.[18] He became Governor of Malta[19] with the local rank of general on 1 January 1899,[20] serving as such until early 1903. The 1902 Coronation Honours list on 26 June 1902 included his name as a future peer,[21] and he was created Baron Grenfell, of Kilvey in the County of Glamorgan on 15 July 1902.[22] He took the oath on meeting in the House of Lords for the first time on 22 July 1902.[23]

After returning permanently to the United Kingdom, he went on to command the newly created 4th Army Corps in April 1903[24] and, having been promoted to full general on 16 March 1904,[25] he became Commander-in-Chief, Ireland and General Officer Commanding 3rd Army Corps in May 1904.[26] He was promoted to field marshal on retirement on 11 April 1908.[27] In May 1910 he attended the funeral of King Edward VII[28] and in June 1911 he attended the coronation of King George V.[29]

Grenfell served as colonel of the 1st Surrey (South London) Volunteer Regiment from 1889 to 1902,[30][31] colonel of the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards and then colonel of the 1st Regiment of Life Guards[32] as well as, latterly, colonel commandant the King's Royal Rifle Corps[33] and colonel of the King's Own Malta Regiment of Militia.[34]

Grenfell was Governor and Commandant of the Church Lads' Brigade from 1908 to 1925.[35] In 1914, he was responsible for raising the 16th (Service) Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps (Church Lads' Brigade) as a battalion for CLB members wishing to enlist.[36] He was also a founding committee member of the Pilgrims Society in 1902.[37]

Grenfell received the Honorary Freedom of the Borough from his native town Swansea in 1889.[38]

He died aged 83 at Windlesham in Surrey on 27 January 1925 and was buried at St Mary and All Saints Churchyard at Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire.[39]

Legacy

Grenfell Road, which runs through North Kensington, London was named for Grenfell; the road later lent its name to Grenfell Tower which was built in 1974. In June 2017, Grenfell Tower caught fire, causing 72 deaths.[40]

Family

In 1887 Grenfell married Evelyn Wood, daughter of Major General Robert Blucher Wood; they had no children.[2] Following the death of his first wife, he married Margaret Majendie (daughter of Lewis Majendie MP) in 1903; they had two sons and a daughter.[27]

Honours and decorations

Foreign decorations

Grenfell was awarded the Order of the Medjidie (second class) and the Order of Osmanieh (third class) on 27 May 1886.[43] He was advanced to the Order of the Medjidie (first class) on 17 May 1888[44] and to the Order of Osmanieh (first class) on 25 July 1892.[45] And also awarded; a 'Coronation medal', Order of the Red Eagle from Germany, Order of Alexander Nevsky from Russia, Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus from Italy.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.510
  2. 1 2 3 Hesilrige 1921, p. 420.
  3. 1 2 "Francis Grenfell, 1st Baron Grenfell". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33561. Retrieved 17 August 2013. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ↑ "No. 22295". The London Gazette. 5 August 1859. p. 3005.
  5. ↑ "No. 22755". The London Gazette. 21 July 1863. p. 3618.
  6. ↑ "No. 23789". The London Gazette. 27 October 1871. p. 4386.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Heathcote, p. 152
  8. ↑ "No. 24650". The London Gazette. 28 November 1878. p. 6683.
  9. ↑ "No. 24947". The London Gazette. 8 March 1881. p. 1072.
  10. ↑ "No. 24999". The London Gazette. 26 July 1881. p. 3685.
  11. ↑ "No. 25505". The London Gazette. 25 August 1885. p. 4050.
  12. ↑ "No. 25573". The London Gazette. 30 March 1886. p. 1536.
  13. ↑ "No. 25650". The London Gazette. 26 November 1886. p. 5975.
  14. ↑ "No. 25963". The London Gazette. 9 August 1889. p. 4318.
  15. 1 2 "No. 26291". The London Gazette. 25 May 1892. p. 3139.
  16. ↑ "No. 26544". The London Gazette. 21 August 1894. p. 4867.
  17. ↑ "No. 26958". The London Gazette. 19 April 1898. p. 2439.
  18. 1 2 "No. 27023". The London Gazette. 15 November 1898. p. 6688.
  19. ↑ "No. 27024". The London Gazette. 18 November 1898. p. 6791.
  20. ↑ "No. 27059". The London Gazette. 3 March 1899. p. 1513.
  21. ↑ "The Coronation Honours". The Times. No. 36804. London. 26 June 1902. p. 5.
  22. ↑ "No. 27455". The London Gazette. 18 July 1902. p. 4587.
  23. ↑ "Parliament – House of Lords". The Times. No. 36827. London. 23 July 1902. p. 6.
  24. ↑ "No. 27545". The London Gazette. 21 April 1903. p. 2527.
  25. ↑ "No. 27666". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 April 1904. p. 2302.
  26. ↑ "No. 27676". The London Gazette. 13 May 1904. p. 3083.
  27. 1 2 Heathcote, p. 153
  28. ↑ "No. 28401". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 July 1910. p. 5473.
  29. ↑ "No. 28535". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 September 1911. p. 7081.
  30. ↑ "No. 25987". The London Gazette. 25 October 1889. p. 5668.
  31. ↑ "No. 27503". The London Gazette. 12 December 1902. p. 8594.
  32. ↑ "No. 28020". The London Gazette. 10 May 1907. p. 3192.
  33. ↑ "No. 27023". The London Gazette. 15 November 1898. p. 6692.
  34. ↑ "No. 28940". The London Gazette. 16 October 1914. p. 8254.
  35. ↑ "Factsheet 2 – Governors & Commandants of the CLB/CLCGB". Church Lads' & Church Girls' Brigade Historical Group. 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  36. ↑ "Factsheet 13 – The 16th Battalion KRRC". Church Lads' & Church Girls' Brigade Historical Group. 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  37. ↑ The Pilgrims of Great Britain: A Centennial History (2002) – Anne Pimlott Baker, ISBN 1-86197-290-3
  38. 1 2 "Lord Grenfell at Swansea". The Times. No. 36846. London. 14 August 1902. p. 8.
  39. ↑ "Francis Wallace Grenfell, Field Marshall Lord Grenfell of Kilvey (1841 - 1925)". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  40. ↑ "Who was Grenfell Tower named after and what do we know about the man?". Metro. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  41. ↑ "University intelligence". The Times. No. 36779. London. 28 May 1902. p. 12.
  42. ↑ "The Colonial Premiers in Edinburgh". The Times. No. 36831. London. 28 July 1902. p. 4.
  43. ↑ "No. 25591". The London Gazette. 28 May 1886. p. 2572.
  44. ↑ "No. 25817". The London Gazette. 18 May 1888. p. 2828.
  45. ↑ "No. 26310". The London Gazette. 26 July 1892. p. 4247.

Sources

Further reading

  • Obituary in The Times, 28 January 1925
  • Grenfell, Lord (1925). Memoirs of Lord Grenfell. Hodder & Stoughton. ASIN B0008564IE.
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