John Neville Manners (6 January 1892 – 1 September 1914) played cricket for

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, C ...

Fowler's match Fowler's match is the name given to the two-day Eton v Harrow cricket match held at Lord's on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 July 1910. The match is named after the captain of Eton College, Robert St Leger Fowler, whose outstanding all round batting an ...

in 1910, and died in the early weeks of the First World War on the

retreat from Mons The Great Retreat (), also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army. The Franco-British forces on the Western Fr ...

. Poem LIV of '' The Muse in Arms'' by William Grenfell (brother of

Julian Grenfell Julian Henry Francis Grenfell (30 March 1888 – 26 May 1915) was a British soldier and a war poet of World War I. Early life Julian Grenfell was born at 4 St James's Square, London, the eldest son of William Grenfell, later Baron Desborough, ...

) is addressed to him and entitled "To John".

Life

The eldest son of John Manners-Sutton, 3rd Baron Manners, Manners was educated at Eton, played cricket in the

Eton v Harrow The Eton v Harrow cricket match is an annual match between public school rivals Eton College and Harrow School. It is one of the longest-running annual sporting fixtures in the world and is the last annual school cricket match still to be pla ...

match in 1910, and then studied at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

. In 1912, Manners was commissioned as an officer into the second battalion of the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

. In August 1914, he was sent to Belgium with the British Expeditionary Force and on 1 September was killed in a rear-guard action in the forests around

Villers-Cotterêts Villers-Cotterêts () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France, France. It is notable as the signing-place in 1539 of the ''Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts'' discontinuing the use of Latin in official French documents, and as the ...

. His platoon, in No. 4 Company, was part of the defensive force from the 4th (Guards) Brigade covering the retirement of the 2nd Infantry Division on the retreat from

Mons Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...

. His platoon and a second platoon did not receive the order to retire and were cut off. Lieutenants Manners and George Edward Cecil and around 160 guardsmen were killed. The body of Manners was never identified. A letter from

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

to Lady Edward Cecil records a conversation at

Gatcombe House Gatcombe House is a manor house in Gatcombe on the Isle of Wight, England. The original building was constructed by the Stur (Estur) family as noted in the Domesday Book. St. Olave's Church, built next to the manor to serve as its chapel, was d ...

in December 1914 with the convalescent Private Walter Titcombe, who had served in Manners's platoon and claimed that Manners was shot through the head and died instantly. Manners is commemorated at the

La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial The La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial is a World War I memorial in France, located on the south bank of the river Marne, on the outskirts of the commune of La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, 66 kilometres east of Paris, in the department of Seine-et-Marne. Al ...

on the south bank of the

River Marne The Marne () is a river in France, an eastern tributary of the Seine in the area east and southeast of Paris. It is long. The river gave its name to the departments of Haute-Marne, Marne, Seine-et-Marne, and Val-de-Marne. The Marne starts in ...

in France. A bronze effigy of Manners by Sir

Bertram Mackennal Sir Edgar Bertram Mackennal (12 June 186310 October 1931), usually known as Bertram Mackennal, was an Australian sculptor and medallist, most famous for designing the coinage and stamps bearing the likeness of George V. He signed his work "BM". ...

is at All Saints Chapel,

Thorney Hill Thorney may refer to: Places in the United Kingdom *Thorney, Cambridgeshire *Thorney, Buckinghamshire *Thorney, Nottinghamshire *Thorney, Somerset *Thorney Hill, Hampshire *Thorney Island (Westminster) *Thorney Island (West Sussex) *Thorney Toll, C ...

, with lettering for the memorial cut by

Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cra ...

. The baroque chapel had been built in 1906 to a design by

Detmar Blow Detmar Jellings Blow (24 November 1867 – 7 February 1939) was a British architect of the early 20th century, who designed principally in the arts and crafts style. His clients belonged chiefly to the British aristocracy, and later he became es ...

to commemorate the death of Manners' sister Christine. Manners is also commemorated at Mount Pleasant, Clovelly, on land that was donated to the National Trust by his aunt Christine Hamlyn. As the first son of a peer, his name is recorded on the wooden panels of the war memorial in the Royal Gallery at the House of Lords.

Family

Manners was the fourth child and eldest son of John Thomas Manners-Sutton, 3rd Baron Manners. His father was educated at Eton and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, and served as a lieutenant in the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

between 1857 and 1883, and later as a captain in 3rd Battalion of the

Hampshire Regiment The Hampshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. The regi ...

. His father was married at

Clovelly Clovelly () is a privately-owned harbour village in the Torridge district of Devon, England. The settlement and surrounding land belongs to John Rous who inherited it from his mother in 1983. He belongs to the Hamlyn family who have managed th ...

on 12 August 1885, to Constance Edwina Adeline Hamlyn-Fane; she was the daughter of Henry Edward Hamlyn-Fane and Susan Hester Hamlyn-William. Their family home was at Avon Tyrrell in the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...

in Hampshire. It is not clear when the family dropped the Sutton surname. Manners had three elder sisters, Mary Christine (1886-1904), and twins Angela Margaret (1889- 1970) and Betty Constance (1889-1962). His eldest sister Christine died aged 17 in Bangalore; the others married (respectively)

Arthur Melland Asquith Brigadier General The Honourable Arthur Melland Asquith, (24 April 1883 – 25 August 1939) was a senior officer of the Royal Naval Division, a Royal Navy land detachment attached to the British Army during the First World War. His father, H. H. ...

, son of

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

, and Christian Malise Hore-Ruthven, son of Walter James Hore-Ruthven, 9th Lord Ruthven of Freeland. His younger brother Francis Henry (1897-1972) was also educated at Eton, and then at Trinity College, Cambridge. Francis also served in the Grenadier Guards in the First World War. He survived, winning the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

, and succeeded their father as 4th Baron Manners, later serving as lieutenant colonel of the 5th/7th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment and becoming a Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire in 1939.

References

The Peerage

GENUKI
Second Lieutenant John Neville Manners by Mike Andrews (Aug 2014)
Christchurch History Society

New Forest Military Archive
Strewing the Pateran: The Gypsies of Thorney Hill
John Pateman, p. 25-28
Lieutenant The Hon. JOHN NEVILLE MANNERS
everymanremembered.org
The Letters of Rudyard Kipling: 1911-19
Rudyard Kipling, p. 267-270

britishbattles.com

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Manners, John Neville 1892 births 1914 deaths English cricketers Grenadier Guards officers Heirs apparent who never acceded Eldest sons of British hereditary barons People educated at Eton College Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford British military personnel killed in World War I British Army personnel of World War I