Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
The Honourable
''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...
Sir Assheton Gore Curzon-Howe, (10 August 1850 – 1 March 1911) was a British naval officer who served as
Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet from 1908 to 1910.
Early life
Curzon-Howe was the thirteenth and youngest child of
Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe
Richard William Penn Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe (11 December 1796 – 12 May 1870), was a British peer and courtier.
Background
He was the third but eldest surviving son of The Hon. Penn Assheton Curzon (the eldest son of Assheton Curzon, 1s ...
, and Anne (d. 1877), who was Lord Howe's second wife (Assheton was the youngest of her three children), daughter of
Vice-Admiral Sir John Gore. His paternal great-grandfather was Admiral
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe
Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, (8 March 1726 – 5 August 1799) was a British naval officer. After serving throughout the War of the Austrian Succession, he gained a reputation for his role in amphibious operations aga ...
.
Career
In 1894 Curzon-Howe flew his flag as Commodore on the corvette on the North America and West Indies Station. By January 1900 he had been promoted
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
, and was appointed in command of the
battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...
when she was commissioned 20 February 1900 for service on the
Mediterranean Station
The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between ...
. She transferred to the
China Station
The Commander-in-Chief, China was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941.
From 1831 to 18 ...
in January 1901, in response to the
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...
.
Curzon-Howe was appointed a
Naval Aide de Camp (ADC) to
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
in July 1899, and was re-appointed as a Naval Aide de Camp to her successor
King Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...
in February 1901. He was promoted to flag rank as
rear admiral
Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...
in July 1901, which ended the appointment as Naval ADC.
On 5 June 1902 he was appointed second-in-command of the
Channel Squadron
Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to:
Geography
* Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water.
Australia
* Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...
, and temporarily hoisted his flag on board
HMS ''Cambridge'', gunnery ship at
Devonport, before he transferred to the battleship later the same month. Shortly before his departure from London he was received in audience by King Edward VII. With ''Magnificent'', he took part in the
fleet review
A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to ...
held at
Spithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...
on 16 August 1902 for the
coronation
A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...
of King Edward VII, and visited the
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...
for combined manoeuvres with the Mediterranean Fleet the following month. Later the same year he was appointed a Commander of the
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...
(CVO) in the November
1902 Birthday Honours list, and was invested with the insignia by King
Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...
at
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...
on 18 December 1902.
He was flying his flag in (Captain
Sydney Fremantle) in 1906. In 1907, he was Commander-in-Chief of the
Atlantic Fleet. Curzon-Howe the served as
Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet from 1908 to 1910.
[Janus: The Papers of Reginald McKenna](_blank)
/ref> He was promoted to Admiral in 1909. He was Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth
The Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. The commanders-in-chief were based at premises in High Street, Portsmouth from the 1790s until the end of Sir Thomas Williams's tenure, his succe ...
from 1 May 1910 until his death, age 60, on 1 March 1911. During this time he flew his flag in .
Family
On 25 February 1892, at the age of 41, Assheton married Alice Anne Cowell, daughter of General Rt. Hon. Sir John Cowell. They had five children:
* Captain Leicester Charles Assheton St. John Curzon-Howe (8 July 1894 – 21 February 1941), the father of Anne Rita Curzon-Howe, who married Captain Christopher Roper-Curzon, 19th Baron Teynham.
* Victoria Alexandrina Alice Curzon-Howe (1 September 1896 – 3 February 1910)
* Assheton Penn Curzon-Howe-Herrick (21 August 1898 – 23 February 1959)
* Joyce Mary Curzon-Howe (16 July 1906 – 24 September 1997)
* Elizabeth Anne Curzon-Howe (15 November 1909-?)
His wife Alice died on 5 November 1948.
Assheton's elder sister, Lady Maria Anna Curzon (1848–1929), was the great-great-grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
.[ Wikipedia: Richard William Penn Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe]
Footnotes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Curzon-Howe, Assheton Gore
Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
Royal Navy admirals
Younger sons of earls
1850 births
1911 deaths
Assheton