Major-General Herbert Francis Eaton, 3rd Baron Cheylesmore,
GBE,
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,
KCVO (25 January 1848 – 29 July 1925) was a British Army officer, sportsman, and peer. He was Chairman of
London County Council
London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...
, chairman of the
National Rifle Association and presided over courts martial during 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 ...
.
Early life
Eaton was the son of
Henry Eaton, 1st Baron Cheylesmore and his wife Charlotte Gorham Harman.
His father made money in the silk trade, helped to manage insurance companies, and was MP for
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...
. Eaton was educated at
Eton in
Mr. Warre's house. He was nicknamed "Cheeky Eaton" and rowed
bow in the winning Eton House
four crew in 1866. He also a marksman and shot for Eton in the Ashburton Shield in 1866.
Military career
At the age of twenty Eaton joined the
Grenadier Guards
"Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it."
, colors =
, colors_label =
, march = Slow: " Scipio"
, mascot =
, equipment =
, equipment ...
, and went to Dublin, where he was given the nickname "Brown" by his brother officers. He rowed for the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards in the 1877
Grand Challenge Cup
The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing competition for men's eights. It is the oldest and best-known event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing ...
at
Henley Royal Regatta.
[ His father became Baron Cheylesmore of Cheylesmore, in the city of Coventry, co. Warwick in 1887 and had to give up his parliamentary seat. In the ensuing ]by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
Eaton stood for the seat but failed to be elected by 16 votes. He first appeared in Vanity Fair in 1891 as commander of the 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, which he had "just brought back from a well-deserved, if enforced, holiday in Bermuda. As some curious punishment, the entire battalion had been sent there for a year following 'an act of insubordination.'”[ While there in 1891, he met Elizabeth Richardson French, daughter of Francis Ormond French of New York and sister of Amos Tuck French, and married her back in London on 14 July 1892. Vanity Fair said of him in 1891][
]"He is a good all-round sportsman who drives his father’s team well; but though a fair shot, he is sometimes a little too eager to get birds. He has thrown himself heart and soul into most things connected with the Brigade; and the Boat Club and Racing Club would miss him as much as he would be missed from an Ascot luncheon. He has commanded the N.R.A. camp at Wimbledon and Bisley for seven years; yet withal he has found time to start and successfully edit The Brigade of Guards Magazine. He is a very good and very popular Colonel."
He became Major-General in 1899, and was appointed a Knight of Grace of the Order of St. John (KStJ) in July 1901.
Political career
On the death of his brother on 10 July 1902, Eaton succeeded to the title of 3rd Baron Cheylesmore, and he took the oath and made his maiden speech in the House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
in November that year. He shot for the House of Lords against the Commons in the annual marksmanship competition from 1906.[
Cheylesmore was an alderman of ]Westminster City Council
Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Cons ...
, and Mayor of Westminster for 1905–06. In December 1907, he was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
.
On 17 January 1911, Baroness Cheylesmore purchased the Cooper's Hill property at Runnymede
Runnymede is a water-meadow alongside the River Thames in the English county of Surrey, and just over west of central London. It is notable for its association with the sealing of Magna Carta, and as a consequence is, with its adjoining ...
, previously used by the Royal Indian Engineering College
The Royal Indian Engineering College (or RIEC) was a British college of Civil Engineering run by the India Office to train civil engineers for service in the Indian Public Works Department. It was located on the Cooper's Hill estate, near Egham, ...
, for use as a family home.
In April 1912, Cheylesmore became Chairman of London County Council. In this capacity, he opened the Woolwich foot tunnel on Saturday, 26 October 1912.
First World War and after
At the outbreak of the First World War, Cheylesmore became commandant of a School of Musketry at Bisley Camp, where the ranges were put at the disposal of the Army Council. The school was to train and provide instructors in musketry from those who had passed the age of military service. The School trained some 14,500 officers, NCOs and civilians for service in the Army and Territorial Force.
Of Cheylesmore it was said "He is never happier than when the boys have their week at Bisley, and he can devote a portion of his well-earned holidays to "teaching the young idea to shoot. Loves rifle shooting as much as marksmen like him – which is indeed saying a very great deal. Has done more to advance the "nation of marksmen" ideal than any other nobleman in the country".[
During World War I he presided over several ]courts-martial
A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
including that which condemned the spy Carl Hans Lody to death.
Cheylesmore was honoured Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in June 1925. He died a month later aged 77, in a motor accident, the first peer to suffer such a fate in Britain. He was buried in Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...
in a grade 2 listed mausoleum designed by the American firm of architects, Carrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère ( ; November 9, 1858 – March 1, 1911) and Thomas Hastings (March 11, 1860 – October 22, 1929), was one of the outstanding American Beaux-Arts architecture firms. Located in New York City ...
. The family was desolated and the great ballroom, known as the Pillar Hall at Coopers Hill, which was being built for the coming of age of their heir, was left unfinished.[ He is commemorated by a monument by Sir Edwin Lutyens in Victoria Embankment Gardens, London.][ The Cheylesmore Range at Bisley named after him was opened for the ]1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...
.
His son Francis Ormond Henry Eaton, 4th Baron Cheylesmore succeeded to the Barony;[ on the fourth Baron's death in 1985, the Barony became extinct.
]
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eaton, Herbert, 3rd Baron Cheylesmore
1848 births
1925 deaths
Burials at Highgate Cemetery
People educated at Eton College
People educated at St Cyprian's School
Grenadier Guards officers
3
Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
Members of London County Council
Deputy Lieutenants of Middlesex
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire
Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
People of the National Rifle Association