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 (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
, 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 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 Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most ...
).
His paternal grandparents were Col.
Wellington Stapleton-Cotton, 2nd Viscount Combermere
Colonel Wellington Henry Stapleton-Cotton, 2nd Viscount Combermere (24 November 1818 – 1 December 1891) was a British soldier and Conservative politician.
Early life
Combermere was born at Duncombe House, St. Thomas, Barbados,https://www.archi ...
and Susan Alice Sitwell (a daughter of
Sir George Sitwell, 2nd Baronet). His maternal grandparents were
Sir George Chetwynd, 3rd Baronet and Lady Charlotte Augusta Hill (a daughter of
Arthur Hill, 3rd Marquess of Downshire and Lady Maria Windsor, a daughter of the
5th Earl of Plymouth).
He was educated at
Harrow School 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 in 1677) as well as the 4th
Baron Combermere of Combermere (created for
Stapleton Cotton in the
Peerage of the United Kingdom 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 or ...
, 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 Fr ...
and the
Battle of Toulouse during the
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...
)
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, 1 ...
of
Bhurtpore (also created for Stapleton Cotton in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1827 for his success as
Commander-in-Chief, India).
In 1916, Combermere gained the rank of
Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
in the
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) ...
(Special Reserve) and fought in
World War I
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 ...
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, by his wife Lady Louisa Noel, a daughter of
Charles Noel, 1st Earl of Gainsborough
Charles Noel Noel, 1st Earl of Gainsborough (2 October 1781 – 10 June 1866), known as Charles Edwardes until 1798, as Charles Noel between 1798 and 1823 and as the Lord Barham between 1823 and 1841, was a British peer and Whig politician.
Ear ...
) 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 Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads.
The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who buil ...
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 h ...
).
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
Sir Andrew Agnew, 8th Baronet 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
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...
.
References
External links
*
Francis Lynch Wellington-Stapleton-Cotton, 4th Viscount Combermere (1887-1969)at the
National Portrait Gallery, London
{{DEFAULTSORT:Combermere, Francis Stapleton-Cotton, 4th Viscount
1887 births
1969 deaths
People educated at Harrow School
Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Royal Garrison Artillery officers
Deputy Lieutenants of Herefordshire