James Rawdon Stansfeld (; 11 August 1866 – 14 January 1936) was a British army officer who served as an Instructor and Professor at the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

, and as Deputy Director-General of Inspection in the

Ministry of Munitions The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis of ...

(1916–19).

Early life

Stansfeld was born on 11 August 1866, he was the son of Lt-Gen. Thomas Wolrich Stansfeld Jnr (1829–1910), and grandson of Thomas Wolrich Stansfeld Snr (1779–1853). Thomas Snr was the eldest son of David Stansfield (1755–1818) of Hope Hall, Halifax, and his wife Sarah Wolrich (1757–1824), daughter of Thomas Wolrich (1719–91) of Armley House,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. He was a descendant of the Stansfeld family of

Stansfield Stansfield is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located seven miles south-west of Bury St Edmunds, in 2011 its population was 221. The village has an Anglican church dedicated to All Saints. ...

and Sowerby,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, and a cousin of the politicians William Crompton-Stansfield and Sir James Stansfeld and the soldiers Thomas Wolryche Stansfeld and John R. E. Stansfeld.

Career

Stansfeld was educated at

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Huggett ...

and the

, before he joined 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 1885. He married Eleanor Susan Martineau, the daughter of William Martineau, in 1887, and the marriage produced two children. He was an

Adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

for the Volunteers from 1891 to 1896, rising to the rank of

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 ...

(1895). At the Ordnance College, he was an Instructor (1901–03) then Professor (1903–04) and Chief Instructor and

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 ...

(1904). He was appointed to the Inspection Staff as an Inspector (1905–06) then as Inspector of Steel (1908–12). He was Chief Inspector at

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

(1913–16) and was promoted to

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

in 1913. He became Deputy Director-General of Inspection in the

(1916–19). He also served as a Member of the Committee for the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

(1917–20).

Honours

Stansfeld was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the

1917 New Year Honours The 1917 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in several editions of ''The London Gazette'' in Ja ...

and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the

1919 Birthday Honours The 1919 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

. He died on 14 January 1936.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stansfeld, James Rawdon 1866 births 1936 deaths Royal Artillery officers Companions of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Stansfeld family