Grave of 2nd Baron Gorell at Lijssenthoek near Ypres

Major Henry Gorell Barnes, 2nd Baron Gorell, DSO, (21 January 1882 – 16 January 1917) was a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and an officer in the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

. He served on the Western Front 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 ...

where he was mortally wounded.

Education and legal career

He was born in 1882, the eldest son of John Barnes, 1st Baron Gorell. After an education at

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

(MA 1908), and

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, he was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1906. He worked as a secretary to his father when he was on the Bench, and later as secretary of the

Royal Commission on Divorce Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

. He succeeded his father in the peerage in 1913. He was a very active English

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, and a member of Oxford's

Apollo University Lodge Apollo University Lodge No 357 is a Masonic Lodge based at the University of Oxford aimed at past and present members of the university. It was consecrated in 1819, and its members have met continuously since then. University of Oxford Membershi ...

.''Burke's Peerage'': 'Gorell'.Obituary, ''Annual Register for 1917'', p. 155.

Military career and death

Gorell was a pre-war officer in the part-time

, having been commissioned as 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 18th County of London Battery,

7th County of London Brigade, Royal Field Artillery The 7th London Brigade, Royal Field Artillery was a new unit formed when Britain's Territorial Force was created in 1908. Its origin lay in Artillery Volunteer Corps formed in West London in the 1860s, which had later been incorporated into a lar ...

, on 2 September 1909. He was promoted 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 ...

on 19 April 1912, and on the outbreak of

he was acting commander of 19th County of London Battery detached at

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, i ...

. He went with his battery to the Western Front where he commanded it as a Temporary

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 ...

. When the infantry of

47th (1/2nd London) Division The 47th (1/2nd London) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. Formation The Territorial Force (TF) was formed on 1 April 1908 following the enactment of the Territorial and Res ...

succeeded in capturing High Wood on the Somme after bitter fighting on 15 September 1916, the first gun battery to come up in support across the deeply-cratered ground was Gorell's. He later made a dangerous reconnaissance of the whole divisional front. For these actions he was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

. On 15 January 1917, while serving in the

Ypres Salient The Ypres Salient around Ypres in Belgium was the scene of several battles and an extremely important part of the Western front during the First World War. Ypres district Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. ...

, Gorell was returning from observing for his battery in the front line when he was mortally wounded by an enemy shell in a communication trench. 'A pre-war Territorial officer of high professional attainments, and at times almost reckless courage, his loss was universally mourned'. He died the next day, having served one year and ten month's continuous service abroad. He is buried at

Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) burial ground for the dead of the First World War in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front. After Tyne Cot, it is the second largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces i ...

near

Poperinge Poperinge (; french: Poperinghe, ； vls, Poperienge) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders, Flemish Region, and has a history going back to medieval times. The municipality comprises the town of Poperinge pr ...

West Flanders ) , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg , shield_size = , image_map ...

, Belgium.CWGC entry.
/ref> The 2nd Baron Gorell was succeeded in the peerage by his younger brother,

Ronald Ronald is a masculine given name derived from the Old Norse ''Rögnvaldr'',#H2, Hanks; Hardcastle; Hodges (2006) p. 234; #H1, Hanks; Hodges (2003) § Ronald. or possibly from Old English ''Regenweald''. In some cases ''Ronald'' is an Anglicised ...

Notes

References

* ''The Annual Register: a review of public events at home and abroad, for the year 1917''. London: Longmans, Green and Co. 1918. * ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage,'' 100th Edn, London, 1953
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
*
''London Gazette''
* Alan H. Maude (ed.), ''The History of the 47th (London) Division 1914–1919'', London: Amalgamated Press, 1922/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2002, . * ''Monthly Army List''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gorell, Henry Bar 1882 births 1917 deaths British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I Royal Field Artillery officers Members of the Inner Temple Harvard University alumni Companions of the Distinguished Service Order 2 People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Burials at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery Territorial Force officers

Education and legal career

Military career and death

See also

Notes

References