Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Sir Joseph Frederick Laycock (12 June 1867 – 10 January 1952), sometimes known as Joe Laycock, was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer and Olympic sailor. He was at one time a Deputy Lieutenant,

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

and, in 1906, High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire.

Early life

Laycock was the only son of

Robert Laycock Major-General Sir Robert Edward Laycock, (18 April 1907 – 10 March 1968) was a senior British Army officer best known for his influential role in the establishment and command of British Commandos during the Second World War. Early life L ...

(1833–1881), barrister, and MP for North Lincolnshire in 1880–81, and Annie (née Allhusen), daughter to Christian Allhusen. He was born at Wiseton Hall

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, purchased by his grandfather c.1866 and demolished in 1960, which was Laycock's principal residence throughout his life.

Yachting

A member of the

Royal Yacht Squadron The Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) is a British yacht club. Its clubhouse is Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the suffix RYS to their names, and are permitted (with the appropriate warrant) to we ...

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...

, he had

Ramage & Ferguson Ramage & Ferguson was a Scottish shipbuilder active from 1877 to 1934, who specialised in luxury steam-yachts usually with steel hulls and timber decks. They also made several notable windjammers including the stunning five-masted Kø ...

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

build for him a steel auxiliary 3-masted

steam yacht A steam yacht is a class of luxury or commercial yacht with primary or secondary steam propulsion in addition to the sails usually carried by yachts. Origin of the name The English steamboat entrepreneur George Dodd (1783–1827) used the term ...

, the ''Valhalla'', to a design by Mr. W. C. Storey. She was launched from the Victoria Shipyard on 20 October 1892. Her complement was 100 hands, and she was the only steam yacht in the world to have a full ship rig. He sold her in October 1897. He had the publisher Howard Cox publish ''The Log of the Valhalla'' in 1894 Laycock was friends with

Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, (familiarly " Bendor"; 19 March 1879 – 19 July 1953) was a British landowner and one of the wealthiest men in the world. He was the son of Victor Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor, son of the ...

,Nottingham Evening Post 20 May 1997 and they competed together in the 1908 Olympics at Water Motorsport.

Military career

Laycock served with the

Nottinghamshire (Sherwood Rangers) Yeomanry The Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry (SRY) was a British Yeomanry regiment. In 1967 it was amalgamated with other units to form the Royal Yeomanry (RY), a light cavalry regiment of the Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve. Originally raised as t ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

1899–1900, for which he was appointed a

Companion of 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, typic ...

(DSO) in November 1900. He was promoted to

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 ...

on 7 December 1901, and resigned his commission the following year on 6 December 1902. He was the first commanding officer of the

Nottinghamshire Royal Horse Artillery The Nottinghamshire Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in Nottinghamshire in 1908. It saw active service during the First World War in the Middle Eastin the Senussi Campaign and the Sin ...

when it was formed in 1908 as part of the new

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 ...

, and funded the founding of the battery himself. During the First World War he served with his battery in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and also served with the Duke of Westminster's armoured car unit when it was involved in a widely reported incident where it rescued prisoners of war from

Senussi The Senusiyya, Senussi or Sanusi ( ar, السنوسية ''as-Sanūssiyya'') are a Muslim political-religious tariqa (Sufi order) and clan in colonial Libya and the Sudan region founded in Mecca in 1837 by the Grand Senussi ( ar, السنوسي ...

tribesmen. Later he became the Commander Royal Artillery for the ANZAC Mounted Division. After World War I the Nottinghamshire RHA became a battery of the 60th Field Brigade, Royal Artillery, and Laycock was appointed Honorary Colonel of the whole unit on 22 November 1922. During the Second World War, Laycock commanded the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting wi ...

.Burke, Sir Bernard (1969)
''Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry: Volume 2''
Burke's Peerage (p. 390)

Personal life

Laycock married, on 19 November 1902, Katherine Mary (Kitty) Hare (1872–1959), a granddaughter of

William Hare, 2nd Earl of Listowel William Hare, 2nd Earl of Listowel (22 September 1801 – 4 February 1856), known as Viscount Ennismore from 1827 to 1837, was an Anglo-Irish peer and Member of Parliament (MP). Life Listowel was the eldest son of Richard Hare, Viscount Ennismor ...

. Kitty, the former Marchioness of Downshire, was married to the

Arthur Hill, 6th Marquess of Downshire Arthur Wills John Wellington Trumbull Blundell Hill, 6th Marquess of Downshire (2 July 1871, London – 29 May 1918) was an Irish peer, styled Earl of Hillsborough until 31 March 1874. He lived chiefly at the family seat, Easthampstead Park, within ...

(1871–1918), who had divorced her citing adultery with Laycock."The Downshire Divorce"
''

The Star ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', Issue 7423, 9 June 1902 Laycock was also in an adulterous relationship with

Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick Frances Evelyn "Daisy" Greville, Countess of Warwick (''née'' Maynard; 10 December 1861 – 26 July 1938) was a British socialite and philanthropist. Although embedded in late- Victorian British high society, she was also a campaigning sociali ...

, issue occurring before and during his marriage with Kitty. Daisy's fourth child, Maynard (1898–1960), and fifth, Mercy (1904-1968), were fathered by Laycock.Anand, Sushila (2008), ''Daisy: The Life and Loves of the Countess of Warwick,''

Piatkus Little, Brown Book Group is a UK publishing company created in 1992, with multiple predecessors. Since 2006 Little, Brown Book Group has been owned by Hachette UK, a subsidiary of Hachette Livre. It was acquired in 2006 from Time Warner of New ...

. Laycock's son from his marriage to Kitty Hare,

, was knighted and 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 ...

for his services in the Second World War.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laycock, Joseph Frederick 1867 births 1952 deaths British Army brigadiers Military personnel from Northumberland Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Royal Horse Artillery officers Companions of the Distinguished Service Order British motorboat racers Olympic motorboat racers of Great Britain Motorboat racers at the 1908 Summer Olympics High Sheriffs of Nottinghamshire British Army generals of World War I British Home Guard officers Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry officers People from Wiseton