Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Charles Henry Lyell (18 May 1875 – 18 October 1918) was a British politician and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

who died in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Education and private life

Lyell was born in 1875, the only son of Leonard Lyell, 1st Baron Lyell, and was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

. Whilst at Oxford he became a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

in the

Apollo University Lodge Apollo University Lodge No 357 is a Masonic Lodge based at the University of Oxford aimed at past and present members of the university. It was consecrated in 1819, and its members have met continuously since then. University of Oxford Membershi ...

, a

Masonic lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

for students and former students of the university. He married Rosalind Margaret Watney on 18 May 1911 at

Cornbury Park Cornbury Park is an estate near Charlbury, Oxfordshire. It comprises about 5000 acres, mostly farmland and woods, including a remnant of the Wychwood Forest, and was the original venue for the Cornbury Music Festival and later the Wilderness Festiv ...

, Oxfordshire. They had one son, Charles Anthony Lyell (later 2nd Baron Lyell) and one daughter, Margaret Laetitia.Who Was Who

Political career

Lyell was elected to represent

East Dorset East Dorset was a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Dorset, England. Its council met in Wimborne Minster between 2016 and 2019. The district (as Wimborne) was formed on 1 April 1974 by merging Wimborne Minster Urban Dist ...

in a 1904 by-election, and was appointed as

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

to Sir Edward Grey, the Foreign Secretary, in 1906. He was re-elected at the 1906 general election, but failed to win election in the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. The government called the election in the midst of a constitutional crisis caused by the rejection of the People's Budget by the Conservative-dominat ...

, where he contested Edinburgh West.Obituary, ''The Times''. He was elected for Edinburgh South at a by-election in April, and won re-election in the December general election. He was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

, the Prime Minister, in February 1911, and stood down from the seat in May 1917.

Military career

Lyell was commissioned as a lieutenant in the

Forfar and Kincardine Artillery The Forfar and Kincardine Artillery was a British artillery militia regiment of the 19th century. It was based in and named after Forfarshire and Kincardineshire in Scotland. Following the Militia Act of 1797, the regiment was raised as an inf ...

Militia in 1900, and served until 1908 when the Militia was dissolved under the

Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 The Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 ('' 7 Edw. 7, c.9'') was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the auxiliary forces of the British Army by transferring existing Volunteer and Yeomanry units into a new Territori ...

. He then served as the vice-chairman of the County Territorial Association for Forfarshire. On the outbreak of the

, he was gazetted a captain in the Fife

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

, and in May 1915 made a major in the Highland Battery of the Fife RGA.

Death

Kettle, Esmonde, WWI Memorial, House of Commons

Charles Henry Lyell died on 18 October 1918 of pneumonia during the global

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

pandemic while serving as Assistant

Military Attaché A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...

to the US, and was buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

. Lyell is commemorated on Panel 1 of the

Parliamentary War Memorial The Parliamentary War Memorial, also known as the Recording Angel Memorial, is a stone sculpture in Westminster Hall, unveiled in 1922, which commemorates the members of both Houses of Parliament of the United Kingdom who died in the First Wor ...

in Westminster Hall, one of 22 MPs that died during the First World War to be named on that memorial. A further act of commemoration came with the unveiling in 1932 of a manuscript-style

illuminated Illuminated may refer to: * "Illuminated" (song), by Hurts * Illuminated Film Company, a British animation house * ''Illuminated'', alternative title of Black Sheep (Nat & Alex Wolff album) * Illuminated manuscript See also * Illuminate (disambi ...

book of remembrance for the House of Commons, which includes a short biographical account of the life and death of Lyell.

Notes

References

* "LYELL, Hon. Charles Henry", in *Obituary in ''The Times'', p. 5, 19 October 1918

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyell, Charles Henry 1875 births 1918 deaths Scottish Liberal Party MPs Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister Royal Garrison Artillery officers Burials at Arlington National Cemetery British Army personnel of World War I Heirs apparent who never acceded People educated at Eton College Alumni of New College, Oxford Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in the United States Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Edinburgh constituencies British military personnel killed in World War I