Lieutenant Colonel Harold Ernest Brassey (29 March 1877 – 15 July 1916) was a

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

champion who was killed 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 ...

Personal life

Brassey was the third of five sons (there being also seven daughters) of politician Henry Arthur Brassey (1840–1891), J.P., D.L., of

Preston Hall, Aylesford Preston Hall is a former manorial home and associated estate in Aylesford in the English county of Kent. It dates to the Norman period and was owned by the Culpepper family for over 400 years. Part of the estate became the Royal British Legion ...

, Kent. His grandfather,

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 a civil engineer, responsible at the time of his death for one in every twenty miles of railway in the world, and his uncle, also

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and the ...

from 1895 to 1900, was created Baron Brassey in 1886, and

Earl Brassey Earl Brassey was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1911 for the Liberal politician and former Governor of Victoria, Australia, Thomas Brassey, 1st Baron Brassey, eldest son of the railway magnate Thomas Brassey (18 ...

in 1911. An elder brother, Conservative politician

Henry Brassey Henry Arthur Brassey (14 July 1840 – 13 May 1891), DL, of Preston Hall, Aylesford, Kent and of Bath House, Piccadilly, London, was a British Member of Parliament. Origins He was the second son of the railway magnate Thomas Brassey (1805-1 ...

, was created a baronet in 1922, and

Baron Brassey of Apethorpe Baron Brassey of Apethorpe, of Apethorpe in the County of Northampton, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1938 for Sir Henry Brassey, 1st Baronet, who had previously represented Northamptonshire Northern and Pet ...

in 1938. In 1906, Brassey married Lady Norah Hely-Hutchinson (1880–1964), daughter of the 5th Earl of Donoughmore; they had three daughters. His widow subsequently remarried twice.

Polo and military career

He won the Inter-regimental cup in polo in 1910 and 1912. He was killed during the Battle of Bazentin Ridge during the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

whilst serving with the

Royal Horse Guards The Royal Regiment of Horse Guards (The Blues) (RHG) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. Raised in August 1650 at Newcastle upon Tyne and County Durham by Sir Arthur Haselrigge on the orders of Oliver Cr ...

(attd. 8th Bn. South Lancashire Regiment). He is buried at Bouzincourt Communal Cemetery Extension.

Teammates

* 1910 Royal Horse Guards: Capt. Adrian Carton de Wiart, Capt. Charles B. Hornby, Capt. Harold Ernest Brassey, John F. Harrison. * 1912 Royal Horse Guards: Capt. Geoffrey V.S. Bowlby, Capt. Lord

Alastair Innes-Ker Alistair is a masculine given name. It is an Anglicised form of the Scottish Gaelic '' Alasdair''. The latter is most likely a Scottish Gaelic variant of the Norman French Alexandre or Latin Alexander, which was incorporated into English in the sa ...

, Capt. Harold Ernest Brassey, Capt. John F. Harrison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brassey, Harry English polo players 1877 births 1916 deaths Roehampton Trophy

Harold Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts a ...

British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme Royal Horse Guards officers South Lancashire Regiment officers Burials in Hauts-de-France