Colonel Harry Leslie Blundell McCalmont, CB (30 May 1861 – 8 December 1902) was a British

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

officer, race-horse owner, yachtsman and Conservative party politician.

Life

He was the son of Hugh Barklie Blundell McCalmont, and was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

before gaining a commission in the 6th Regiment of Foot in 1881. He subsequently transferred to the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the E ...

four years later. In 1888, his

millionaire A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire. In countries that use the short scal ...

great uncle, Hugh McCalmont died. Under the conditions of his will, a

trust fund A trust is a legal relationship in which the holder of a right gives it to another person or entity who must keep and use it solely for another's benefit. In the Anglo-American common law, the party who entrusts the right is known as the " sett ...

was established paying Harry McCalmont 2,000

Pounds sterling Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and ...

a year for seven years, after which he would inherit the remainder of the estate. He used this income to purchase the Cheveley Park estate and

stud farm A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word " stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, documentation ...

near Newmarket from the

Duke of Rutland Duke of Rutland is a title in the Peerage of England, named after Rutland, a county in the East Midlands of England. Earldoms named after Rutland have been created three times; the ninth earl of the third creation was made duke in 1703, in whos ...

. There he established a successful stable of racehorses. Among his horses were ''Timothy'', a winner of the Ascot Gold Cup and Alexandra Plate and ''

Isinglass Isinglass () is a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish. It is a form of collagen used mainly for the clarification or fining of some beer and wine. It can also be cooked into a paste for specialised gluing purposes. The ...

'' winner of The Derby,

St. Leger Stakes The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a ...

and Epsom Gold Cup. He retired from the regular army in 1889, becoming colonel of the 6th (Militia) Battalion of the

Royal Warwickshire Regiment The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the 6th Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in many conflicts and wars, including the Second Boer War ...

. He was also a keen yachtsman and member of the

Royal Yacht Squadron The Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) is a British yacht club. Its clubhouse is Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the suffix RYS to their names, and are permitted (with the appropriate warrant) to w ...

. In

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

a general election was called, and McCalmont was selected as Conservative candidate for the Newmarket constituency, then held by the Liberals. He was successful, unseating the sitting

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

, Sir

George Newnes Sir George Newnes, 1st Baronet (13 March 1851 – 9 June 1910) was a British publisher and editor and a founding figure in popular journalism. Newnes also served as a Liberal Party Member of Parliament for two decades. His company, George Newne ...

Harry McCalmont Vanity Fair 5 October 1889

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 South ...

broke out in 1899, and in the following year McCalmont's battalion went to

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

, serving in the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

and

Orange River Colony The Orange River Colony was the British colony created after Britain first occupied (1900) and then annexed (1902) the independent Orange Free State in the Second Boer War. The colony ceased to exist in 1910, when it was absorbed into the Unio ...

. He was made a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(CB) for his services in the war. A general election was held in 1900, and McCalmont, who was still in South Africa, was re-elected with an increased majority. His opponent in the election was C. D. Rose, owner of the racehorse ''Ravensbury'' which had been a rival to ''Isinglass''. Through both his racing interests and the connections of his second wife, McCalmont advanced in society. King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

visited McCalmont for shooting at Cheveley park in November 1902, as part of a trip to Newmarket. He died suddenly at his London home from heart failure in December 1902.

Family

He was married to Amy Miller, daughter of Major John Miller, who died in 1889; and then in 1897 to Winifred de Bathe, daughter of Sir Henry de Bathe, 4th Baronet. A sister-in-law was

Lillie Langtry Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe (née Le Breton, formerly Langtry; 13 October 1853 – 12 February 1929), known as Lillie (or Lily) Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer. Born on the isla ...

, who married the son of Sir Henry, Hugo Gerald de Bathe, in 1899. He left no issue, and the bulk of his fortune passed to his second cousin, Dermot McCalmont, son of his father's first cousin, Colonel Sir Hugh McCalmont, KCB.

Arms

References

;Attribution * *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCalmont, Harry Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 British military personnel of the Second Boer War Companions of the Order of the Bath Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers officers People educated at Eton College British racehorse owners and breeders Owners of Epsom Derby winners 1861 births 1902 deaths