Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Elliott Lees, 1st Baronet, DSO (23 October 1860 – 16 October 1908), was a British

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician. Lees 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

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. Lees was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

for

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

in 1886, a seat he held until 1892, and later represented

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

from 1894 to 1906. In 1897 he was created a Baronet, of South Lytchett Manor in

Lytchett Minster Lytchett Minster is a village in Dorset, England. It lies around north-west of Poole town centre. The village forms part of the civil parish of Lytchett Minster and Upton, Upton now being a suburb of Poole. Geography Location Lytchett Mi ...

in the

County of Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , Do ...

. Lees was an officer in the

Dorsetshire Yeomanry The Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army founded in 1794 as the Dorsetshire Regiment of Volunteer Yeomanry Cavalry in response to the growing threat of invasion during the Napoleonic wars. It gained its first ro ...

. He volunteered for active service during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

, and on 24 February 1900 was appointed a captain of the 26th (Dorsetshire) Company serving in the 7th Battalion,

Imperial Yeomanry The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer mounted force of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Created on 2 January 1900, the force was initially recruited from the middle classes and traditional yeomanry sources, but su ...

, which left England for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

on the ''SS Manchester Merchant'' in early March. He was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

and awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

(DSO) in November 1900. After his return to the United Kingdom he was appointed a supernumerary

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 ...

of the regiment in January 1902. Lees married Florence Keith, daughter of Patrick Keith, in 1882. He died in October 1908, aged 47, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son Thomas. Lady Lees died in 1917.

Notes

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lees, Sir Elliott, 1st Baronet 1860 births 1908 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 Politics of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry officers British military personnel of the Second Boer War People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford