John Charles Ready Colomb, Vanity Fair, 1887-03-26

Sir John Charles Ready Colomb, (1 May 1838 – 27 May 1909) was a British naval strategist and politician.

Life

Colomb was born in Onchan, Isle of Man, the son of General George Thomas Colomb (1787–1874), and was the younger brother of British Vice-Admiral

Philip Howard Colomb Vice-Admiral Philip Howard Colomb, RN (29 May 1831 – 13 October 1899). Born in Knockbrex, near Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, he was a Royal Navy officer, historian, critic and inventor. He was the son of General ...

. He was educated privately, and entered the Royal Naval College from which he passed out in 1854 into the Royal Marine Artillery. After being variously employed with the Navy, Army, Militia and Volunteers he retired in 1869 with the rank of captain. He thenceforth devoted himself to the study of naval and military problems, on which he had already published some essays. His books on ''Colonial Defence and Colonial Opinions'' (1873), ''The Defence of Great and Greater Britain'' (1879), ''Naval Intelligence and the Protection of Commerce'' (1881), ''The Use and the Application of Marine Forces'' (1883), ''Imperial Federation: Naval and Military'' (1887), followed later by other similar works, made him well known among the rising school of

Imperialist Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

s, and he was elected to parliament in 1886 as

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

member for Bow and Bromley (1886–1892), and afterwards (1895–1906) for Great Yarmouth. In the 1895-1900 Parliament, he was Chair of the Imperial Federation Defence Committee. In 1887 he was created CMG, and in 1888 . He became a large landowner, when he inherited the Dromquinna estate with 4,500

acres The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...

in the barony of Dunkerron South (

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in Count ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

) from his

father-in-law A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity (law), affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship. A person i ...

Robert Samuel Palmer. There in the

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

Templenoe Templenoe () is a civil parish in County Kerry, Ireland. It is situated four miles from Kenmare, on the N70 road to Sneem, which forms part of the Ring of Kerry. Templenoe is the location of the Ring of Kerry golf club. There is a Gaelic Athl ...

outside

Kenmare Kenmare () is a small town in the south of County Kerry, Ireland. The name Kenmare is the anglicised form of ''Ceann Mara'', meaning "head of the sea", referring to the head of Kenmare Bay. Location Kenmare is located at the head of Kenmare Ba ...

he commissioned the architect

James Franklin Fuller James Franklin Fuller (1835–1924) was an Irish actor, architect and novelist. Life Fuller was born at Nedanone,James Franklin Fuller: Omniana: the autobiography of an Irish octogenarian. London, Smith, Elder & Co (1916) County Kerry, the only ...

around 1890 to build Dromquinna House. Colomb became a member of the Irish privy council in 1903 and in 1906 sat on the Royal Commission dealing with congested districts. He was also a Deputy Lieutenant and a Justice of Peace for the county; and in 1895 served as

High Sheriff of Kerry The High Sheriff of Kerry was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Kerry, Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Kerry County Sheriff. The sheri ...

. John Colomb was a member of the

Carlton Club The Carlton Club is a private members' club in St James's, London. It was the original home of the Conservative Party before the creation of Conservative Central Office. Membership of the club is by nomination and election only. History The ...

(then Pall Mall, today St James's Street,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

). Being ill for some time, he died, aged 71, after an operation on 27 May 1909 at his London residence, 75

Belgrave Road Belgrave Road is a street in the Pimlico area of London.Belgrave Road Guidefirst Marquess of Anglesey. They had three children: * Laura Olivia (1866–1944): Married in 1894 Ruthven Frederic Ruthen-Smith (1864–1955), Britain's ambassador to Switzerland at the beginning of the 20th century and an investor. He was the son of Frederick Chatfield Smith, head of the

Smith's Bank Smith's Bank was a series of English banking partnerships in London and the provinces, all controlled by the Smith family that operated between 1658 and 1918. Although Smith's Bank was never a single entity, the first bank was established in N ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

; * Rupert Palmer Colomb (1868–1955): He was

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 ...

(M.P.) of the "

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Grea ...

" and

in 1917. He was invested as 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 ...

" (C.B.). He married Mabel Louisa Mordaunt (1869–1958), daughter of John Murray Mordaunt (1837–1923), Justice of the peace (J.P.); * Gwendaline Rose Emily (1876–1966): Married in 1900 the judge Sir Thomas Mordaunt Snagge (1868–1955), knighted 1931. Their son was the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

newsreader and commentator on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

John Snagge John Derrick Mordaunt Snagge (8 May 190425 March 1996) was a British newsreader and commentator on BBC Radio. Life Born in Chelsea, London, he was educated at Winchester College and Pembroke College, Oxford, where he obtained a degree in l ...

(1904–1996).

Works

Notes

References

* * *Columb, J.C.R., ''The Defense of Great and Greater Britain: Sketches of Its Naval, Military and Political Aspects'', E. Stanford, 1880, 264 pages. *d'Egville, Howard, ''Imperial Defence and Closer Union: A Short Record of the Life Work of Sir John Colomb and of the Movement Toward Imperial Organization'', London, 1913. * Schurman, D. M., ''The Education of a Navy: The Development of British Naval Strategic Thought 1867–1914'', London, 1965, pp. 16–35. *Kennedy, Greg, Neilson, Keith and Schurman, D.M., eds., ''Far-Flung Lines: Essays on Imperial Defence in Honour of Donald Mackenzie Schurman'', London: Frank Cass, 1997, pp. 31–34. * Gat, Azar, ''A History of Military Thought'' Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 474–477. *Hobson, Rolf, ''Imperialism at Sea'', Brill. 2002. pp. 87–90.

External links

* *
About the Hon. Sir John Charles Ready Colomb, K.C.M.G., P.C. at http://www.anatpro.com

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Colomb, John 1838 births 1909 deaths Manx people Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Royal Marines officers Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Conservative MPs UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 Politics of the Borough of Great Yarmouth High Sheriffs of Kerry