Francis Lynch Wellington Stapleton-Cotton, 4th Viscount Combermere DL (29 June 1887 – 8 February 1969)

Early life

He was born on 29 June 1887.Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes''.

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. p. 873. He was the only son of Robert Stapleton-Cotton, 3rd Viscount Combermere and the former Isabel Marian (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Chetwynd) Poole, the former wife of Cudworth Halsted Poole of Marbury Hall (the

High Sheriff of Cheshire This is a list of Sheriffs (and after 1 April 1974, High Sheriffs) of Cheshire. The High Sheriff, Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the The Crown, Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law officer, law enforcement officer in th ...

). His paternal grandparents were Col. Wellington Stapleton-Cotton, 2nd Viscount Combermere and Susan Alice Sitwell (a daughter of Sir George Sitwell, 2nd Baronet). His maternal grandparents were

Sir George Chetwynd, 3rd Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...

and Lady Charlotte Augusta Hill (a daughter of

Arthur Hill, 3rd Marquess of Downshire Arthur Blundell Sandys Trumbull Hill, 3rd Marquess of Downshire KP (8 October 1788 – 12 September 1845) was an Anglo-Irish peer, styled Viscount Fairford from 1789 until 1793 and Earl of Hillsborough from 1793 to 1801. Early life He was born ...

and Lady Maria Windsor, a daughter of the 5th Earl of Plymouth). He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

in London.

Career

Upon his father's death on 20 February 1898, ten-year old Francis succeeded as the 9th Baronet Cotton of Combermere (created for his ancestor Sir Robert Cotton in the

Baronetage of England Baronets are hereditary titles awarded by the Crown. The current baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier, existing baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland and Great Britain. To be recognised as a baronet, it is necessary ...

in 1677) as well as the 4th Baron Combermere of Combermere (created for

Stapleton Cotton Field Marshal Stapleton Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere, (14 November 1773 – 21 February 1865) was a British Army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Barbados from 1817 to 1820. As a junior officer, ...

in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

in 1814 due to his services in the

Battle of the Pyrenees The Battle of the Pyrenees was a large-scale offensive (the author David Chandler recognises the 'battle' as an offensive) launched on 25 July 1813 by Marshal Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult from the Pyrénées region on Emperor Napoleon's order, ...

, the

Battle of Orthez The Battle of Orthez (27 February 1814) saw the Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese Army under Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington attack an Imperial French army led by Marshal Nicolas Soult in southern France. The outnumbered F ...

and the Battle of Toulouse during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

) and the 4th

Viscount Combermere Viscount Combermere, of Bhurtpore in the East Indies and of Combermere in the County Palatine of Chester, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1827 for the prominent military commander Stapleton Stapleton-Cotton, ...

of Bhurtpore (also created for Stapleton Cotton in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1827 for his success as

Commander-in-Chief, India During the period of the Company and Crown rule in India, the Commander-in-Chief, India (often "Commander-in-Chief ''in'' or ''of'' India") was the supreme commander of the Indian Army from 1833 to 1947. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his ...

). In 1916, Combermere gained the rank of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the

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

(Special Reserve) and fought in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

between 1916 and 1919, where he was wounded. He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant of Herefordshire between 1953 and 1960.

Personal life

On 30 October 1913, Lord Combermere married Hazel Louisa Agnew (d. 1943), the second daughter of Henry de Courcy Agnew (second son of

Sir Andrew Agnew, 8th Baronet Sir Andrew Agnew, 8th Baronet Deputy Lieutenant, DL (2 January 1818 – 25 March 1892) was a Scottish politician and baronet. Early life Agnew was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on 2 January 1818 into the Scottish Lowlands Clan Agnew.George Edward ...

, by his wife Lady Louisa Noel, a daughter of Charles Noel, 1st Earl of Gainsborough) and the former Ethel Anne Goff (a daughter of Capt. Thomas William Goff, MP for

Roscommon Roscommon (; ; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60 road (Ireland), N60, N61 road (Ireland), N61 and N63 road (Irelan ...

and the former Dorothea FitzClarence, a daughter of the Rev.

Lord Augustus FitzClarence Lord Augustus FitzClarence (1 March 1805 – 14 June 1854), was the youngest illegitimate son of William IV of the United Kingdom and his long-time mistress Dorothea Jordan. Like his siblings, he had little contact with his mother after his pare ...

, an illegitimate son of King

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

). They divorced in 1926, and she later died on 15 April 1943. On 1 January 1927, Combermere remarried to his first wife's cousin, Constance Marie Katherine Drummond (d. 1968), the youngest daughter of Lt.-Col. Sir Francis Dudley Williams-Drummond (a younger son of Sir James Williams-Drummond, 3rd Baronet and Marguerite Violet Maude Agnew (the youngest daughter of

of Lochnaw). Together, they were the parents of two sons: * Michael Wellington Stapleton-Cotton, 5th Viscount Combermere (1929–2000), who married Pamela Coulson, a daughter of Rev. Robert Gustavus Coulson. * Capt. Hon. David Peter Dudley Stapleton-Cotton (6 March 1932 - 24 October 2021), married Susan Nomakepu Albu, second daughter of Sir George Albu, 2nd Baronet, in 1955. Lady Combermere died on 29 June 1968. Lord Combermere died less than a year later on 8 February 1969. He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

References

External links

*
Francis Lynch Wellington-Stapleton-Cotton, 4th Viscount Combermere (1887-1969)
at the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Combermere, Francis Stapleton-Cotton, 4th Viscount 1887 births 1969 deaths People educated at Harrow School 4 Royal Garrison Artillery officers Deputy lieutenants of Herefordshire