Gilbert Sackville, Vanity Fair, 1896-06-18

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 ...

Gilbert George Reginald Sackville, 8th Earl De La Warr JP, DL (22 March 1869 – 16 December 1915), styled The Honourable Gilbert Sackville until 1890 and Viscount Cantelupe between 1890 and 1896, was a British landowner, politician and soldier.

Background

Sackville was the second but only surviving son of

Reginald Sackville, 7th Earl De La Warr Reginald Windsor Sackville, 7th Earl De La Warr (21 February 1817 – 5 January 1896), styled The Honourable Reginald West until 1843, as The Honourable Reginald Sackville between 1843 and 1870 and known as the Lord Buckhurst between 1870 and 1873 ...

, by Constance Mary Elizabeth Baillie-Cochrane, daughter of

Alexander Baillie-Cochrane, 1st Baron Lamington Alexander Dundas Ross Cochrane-Wishart-Baillie, 1st Baron Lamington (24 November 1816 – 15 February 1890), better known as Alexander Baillie-Cochrane, was a British Conservative politician perhaps best known for his association with Young Englan ...

. He was educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

. He became

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

to the earldom in 1890 when his elder brother, Lionel Charles Cranford, Lord Cantelupe, died without issue in a boating accident on Belfast Lough aged twenty-one.thepeerage.com Gilbert George Reginald Sackville, 8th Earl De La Warr
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Sackville, now taking the name Lord Cantelupe as a

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some co ...

, twice played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

at first-class level during the 1890s, in the second match captaining a team under the name "Earl de la Warr's XI" against the touring Australians at his private manor cricket ground. His brother-in-law,

Freeman Thomas Freeman Thomas (born August 20, 1957) is an American automobile and industrial designer who has worked for Porsche, Volkswagen Group, DaimlerChrysler and Ford. Background Thomas, the son of an American military air traffic controller and a German ...

, also played at first-class level.

Public life

Lord Cantelupe was made a Deputy Lieutenant of

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

in 1891. He became a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the 2nd (

Cinque Ports The Confederation of Cinque Ports () is a historic group of coastal towns in south-east England – predominantly in Kent and Sussex, with one outlier (Brightlingsea) in Essex. The name is Old French, meaning "five harbours", and alludes to th ...

) (or Eastern) Division of the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1891, was promoted to

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 sub ...

in 1893 and to

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 ...

in 1894. In January 1896 he succeeded his father in the earldom, aged 25. He resigned his army commission later that year. However, he was re-appointed captain in the 2nd Cinque Ports Division in 1900 and fought in 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 ...

, where he was wounded at

Vryheid Vryheid ( zu, IVryheid) is a coal mining and cattle ranching town in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Vryheid is the Afrikaans word for "freedom". History After Boer farmers, who lived in the Vryheid area, had helped King Dinuzulu defeat his ...

. He was promoted to major in 1901 but once again resigned his commission in 1902. In 1903 and 1904 De La Warr was Mayor of

Bexhill-on-Sea Bexhill-on-Sea (often shortened to Bexhill) is a seaside town and civil parish situated in the county of East Sussex in South East England. An ancient town and part of the local government district of Rother, Bexhill is home to a number of arc ...

, a town mainly owned by the Sackville family. He was also a County Alderman and

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

of Sussex. He served 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 ...

but relinquished his commission as a temporary major in The Southdown Battalion of the

Royal Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot ...

in November 1914. He later fought in the war as a lieutenant in the

Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original R ...

and died at

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

Sicilly (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

while on active service on 16 December 1915.

Family

Lord De La Warr married firstly Lady Muriel Agnes Brassey, daughter of

Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey (11 February 1836 – 23 February 1918), was a British Liberal Party politician, Governor of Victoria and founder of ''The Naval Annual''. Background and education Brassey was the eldest son of the railway ma ...

, and Anna Allnutt, in 1890, spending their honeymoon at

Norris Castle Norris Castle is located on the Isle of Wight. It was designed by James Wyatt for Lord Henry Seymour (politician), Lord Henry Seymour. The estate adjoins Osborne House, country home to Victoria of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria. On the othe ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

. They had one son, Herbrand Edward Dundonald Brassey Sackville, and two daughters,

Lady Idina Sackville Lady Myra Idina Sackville (26 February 1893 – 5 November 1955) was an English aristocrat and member of the Happy Valley set. Her behaviour and lifestyle scandalised middle class society. Early life Lady Myra Idina Sackville was born on 26 Fe ...

and Lady Avice Ela Murial Sackville, wife of Sir Stewart Menzies. Lord and Lady De La Warr were divorced in 1902. Lady De La Warr died in August 1903. Lord De La Warr married secondly Hilda Mary Clavering Tredcroft, daughter of Colonel Charles Lennox Tredcroft, in 1903. There were no children from this marriage. He died at sea in December 1915 from pneumonia, aged 46, while on active service in the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...

in the

. His only son Herbrand succeeded in the title. In 1916, Gilbert Sackville was cited posthumously in a divorce case in which Charles Skarratt, then assistant manager of the Alhambra Theatre, sued his American wife Mabel Loeb for divorce on the grounds of her adultery with the Earl between 1913 and 1915. The case was proven. The lady had been visiting the Earl so often at his rooms in

Belgrave Mansions Grosvenor Gardens House is a Grade II-listed mansion block at 23–47 Grosvenor Gardens, London, Grosvenor Gardens, Belgravia, London. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother may have been born there in 1900. David Niven was born there in 1910, and Will ...

that eventually he had been asked to leave. The second Lady De la Warr married secondly

John William Dennis John William Dennis (16 May 1865 – 4 August 1949) was a British politician. He was Mayor of Westminster in 1907–08, when he was described as Liberal Unionist. He was a Conservative Party Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) ...

, MP for Birmingham Deritend, in 1922. She died in 1963.

Pearl fishing mis-adventure

In 1892 a ship named ''Sunbeam'', owned by Viscount Cantelupe, was on a pearl fishing expedition on the northwest coast of Australia. The ship was lost and the legend is that the Aboriginal people called upon serpent spirits to sink the vessel. This was in revenge after the crew, who had been allowed to "borrow" some Aboriginal women, failed to return them at the agreed time. The story caused some confusion in the newspapers at the time because the Viscount's father-in-law,

Thomas Brassey Thomas Brassey (7 November 18058 December 1870) was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about o ...

, was the owner of the famous steam yacht ''Sunbeam RYS'' and it was incorrectly assumed that this was the ship that sunk.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De La Warr, Gilbert Sackville, 8th Earl 1869 births 1915 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School 8 3 Deputy Lieutenants of Sussex English cricketers English cricketers of 1890 to 1918 English justices of the peace British military personnel killed in World War I Earl De La Warr's XI cricketers

Gilbert Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South ...

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I Royal Sussex Regiment officers Deaths from pneumonia in Turkey People who died at sea