Lionel de Jersey Harvard (3 June 1893 – 30 March 1918) was a young Englishman who, discovered to be
collaterally descended from
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
founder
John Harvard, was consequently offered the opportunity to attend that university, from which he graduated in 1915.
The first Harvard to attend Harvard, he died in 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 ...
less than three years later, leaving a wife and infant son.
After his death a fellow officer wrote, "If Harvard College made him what he was, I want my sons to go there that it may do the same for them."
Harvard's
Lionel Hall
This is a list of dormitories at Harvard College. Only freshmen live in these dormitories, which are located in and around Harvard Yard. Sophomores, juniors and seniors live in the House system.
Apley Court
South of Harvard Yard on Holyoke Stree ...
, and its Lionel deJersey Harvard Scholarship, are named in his honour.
Background
In 1908 editor
Mark A. De Wolfe Howe discovered an 1847 letter
in which Harvard President
Edward Everett
Edward Everett (April 11, 1794 – January 15, 1865) was an American politician, Unitarian pastor, educator, diplomat, and orator from Massachusetts. Everett, as a Whig, served as U.S. representative, U.S. senator, the 15th governor of Massa ...
makes reference to a "Reverend John Harvard" living at the time in
Plymouth, England
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth' ...
, calling him "a
Wesleyan
Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...
clergyman whose ancestor... was a brother of our founder".
Inquiries led to the identification of London businessman
Thomas Mawson Harvard as the youngest son of this nineteenth-century Reverend John Harvard (18191888),
through whom he was descended from Thomas Harvard (1609–1637), brother
of Harvard University founder
John Harvard (1607–1638), who had died childless.
Thomas Mawson Harvard's elder son Lionel deJersey Harvard (called "Leo" by his family)
was at the time attending
St Olave's and St Saviour's Grammar School
St. Olave's Grammar School (formally St. Olave's and St. Saviour's Church of England Grammar School) ( or ) is a selective secondary school for boys in Orpington, Greater London, England. Founded by royal charter in 1571, the school occupied sev ...
in
Southwark
Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...
the successor to
St Saviour's Grammar School
St Saviour's Grammar School was a free grammar school for boys located in the borough of Southwark, south of the River Thames in London, England. It existed as a separate entity from 1559 until 1896, when it was amalgamated with St Olave's Gra ...
, which John Harvard had himself attended.
Also like John Harvard, many in Lionel's line had attended
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...
and become ministers.
On his leaving St Olave's, however, the family's finances ruled out any ambition to attend Emmanuel College himself, and so he took employment with a firm of
marine insurance
Marine insurance covers the physical loss or damage of ships, cargo, terminals, and any transport by which the property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and the final destination. Cargo insurance is the sub-branch o ...
brokers.
In 1910 a group of Harvard
alumni
Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...
offered to underwrite Lionel's attendance at Harvard College,
which itself waived the tuition of $150 per year.
He failed his first attempt at the entrance exam, but after a year of refresher study he qualified, and "set out for
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
in lieu of
Cambridge, England
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge became ...
", as his friend John Paulding Brown put it later.
Harvard College
![LioneldeJerseyHarvard HollisHallPageant 1913June14 cropped](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/LioneldeJerseyHarvard_HollisHallPageant_1913June14_cropped.jpg)
The "sentimental and romantic"
story of "how Mother Harvard sought and found one of her own"
was reported throughout the United States,
and on 26September 1911 the ''Boston Transcript'' announced, "Harvard of Harvard Here".
"He had the time of his life getting safely ashore
astreporters and camera artists", said ''
The Cambridge Tribune''. "Apparently the one thing he does not wish is notoriety of any kind."
Howe later wrote that "it seemed like the realization of a fairy-tale... Our local newspapers did everything in their power to spoil him, if he had been spoilable. His arrival and history were glaringly chronicled."
His freshman rooms were in
Weld Hall
This is a list of dormitories at Harvard College. Only freshmen live in these dormitories, which are located in and around Harvard Yard. Sophomores, juniors and seniors live in the Harvard College#House system, House system.
Apley Court
South of ...
.
He was a good student if not brilliant, and one of the most popular members of his class;
Brown called him "a little different from the boys who come up each year as Freshmen, more gentle, perhaps, and more self-controlled."
He belonged to the
Hasty Pudding
Hasty pudding is a pudding or porridge of grains cooked in milk or water. In the United States, it often refers specifically to a version made primarily with ground ("Indian") corn, and it is mentioned in the lyrics of "Yankee Doodle", a tradit ...
and
D.U. Clubs,
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fifteen ...
, the
Signet Society
The Signet Society of Harvard University was founded in 1870 by members of the class of 1871. The first president was Charles Joseph Bonaparte. It was, at first, dedicated to the production of literary work only, going so far as to exclude debate ...
, the
Glee Club
A glee club in the United States is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs by trios or quartets. In the late 19th century it w ...
, the Dramatic, Musical and
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Food and drink
* Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo"
History
* Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953
Hotels and resorts
* Cosmopoli ...
Clubs, the Social Service Committee of
Phillips Brooks House, the Chapel Choir, the
Memorial Society
Memorial ( rus, Мемориал, p=mʲɪmərʲɪˈaɫ) is an international human rights organisation, founded in Russia during the fall of the Soviet Union to study and examine the human rights violations and other crimes committed under Joseph ...
, and the Christian Association; and was an officer of several of these.
Though on arrival he had told reporters that he played soccer and tennis, and wanted to learn baseball and
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
,
his participation in organized athletics was limited to class
crew
A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tasks involve ...
.
His junior-year recitation of
Alfred Noyes' "The Highwayman" won him the Boylston Prize,
and after he portrayed John Harvard in a pageant celebrating the 150th anniversary of
Hollis Hall
This is a list of dormitories at Harvard College. Only freshmen live in these dormitories, which are located in and around Harvard Yard. Sophomores, juniors and seniors live in the House system.
Apley Court
South of Harvard Yard on Holyoke Stre ...
his classmates began calling him John.
"Great was the applause whenever the broke into, 'Here's to Johnny Harvard, fill him up a glass, Fill him up a glass to his name and fame,' for there he was in person.
eseemed a living symbol of all that was best and brightest in Harvard itself, manifested to us briefly after three hundred years."
Commencement
![LioneldeJerseyHarvard HarvardCommencement 1915June cropped](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/LioneldeJerseyHarvard_HarvardCommencement_1915June_cropped.png)
Graduating ''
cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
'' in English
in June 1915, he was selected to compose both the Class Poem and the Baccalaurete Hymn.
His poem was "a stirring lyric adjuring all Harvard men in the present crisis of civilization
.e. World War Ito stand for their historic ideals of freedom":
His hymn reflected similar themes:
Speaking to the Alumni Association immediately after receiving his diploma he said, "I have had four years here full to the brim of happiness and ever-increasing joy... I can never say enough in gratitude. When I say 'Thank you!' that word was never charged with more fervor."
He later wrote to Howe: "I have never been able to find out who were the gentlemen who have been so generously looking after me in money matters whilst I have been in Cambridge. It has been awfully generous of them, and I do appreciate it. I hope I shall be able to repay the kindness of you all in many more ways than one."
Army, marriage, and death
Harvard planned to become a medical
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
, but on returning to London immediately after graduation he enlisted in the
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 ...
. "It is all of a piece with the devotion which the best young men of Europe are rendering to their flags," said the ''Harvard Alumni Bulletin''. He joined the
Inns of Court
The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple.
All barristers must belong to one of them. They have ...
Officers' Training Corps
The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...
on 12 July 1915 and was commissioned a
second lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
in the
Grenadier Guards
"Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it."
, colors =
, colors_label =
, march = Slow: " Scipio"
, mascot =
, equipment =
, equipment ...
on 28 September. He was promoted to
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
in January 1916
and joined the 1st Battalion in France on 8March 1916.
On 11 September 1915 he married childhood friend (Edith) May Barker,
to whom he had been quietly engaged since before leaving for America. A son, John Peter deJersey Harvard,
was born 4September 1916.
Lionel was shot in the chest on 25 September 1916 at
Lesboeufs during the
Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...
but after a long convalescence he returned to combat in June 1917, as company commander.
At the outbreak of the war, Lionel's younger brother Kenneth O'Gorman Harvard (born 4June 1897)
gave up his intention to attend Harvard College. He was commissioned August 1915 and, with Lionel, was promoted to lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards in January 1916.
He was killed at
Pilckem Ridge
The Battle of Pilckem Ridge (31 July – 2 August 1917) was the opening attack of the Third Battle of Ypres in the First World War. The British Fifth Army, supported by the Second Army on the southern flank and the French (First Army) on the n ...
, during the
Battle of Passchendaele
The Third Battle of Ypres (german: link=no, Dritte Flandernschlacht; french: link=no, Troisième Bataille des Flandres; nl, Derde Slag om Ieper), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by t ...
, on 1August 1917; Lionel, who had been fighting nearby, helped bury him.
By March 1918 Lionel Harvard was commander of Number One Company, designated the King's Companyas Brown put it, "a high honor for a lieutenant, and usually a fatal one". On the morning of 30March 1918 he was killed by a
minenwerfer
''Minenwerfer'' ("mine launcher" or "mine thrower") is the German name for a class of short range mine shell launching mortars used extensively during the First World War by the Imperial German Army. The weapons were intended to be used by engin ...
shell
near
Arras
Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...
during the
German spring offensive, just before a promotion to captain became effective. He was buried at
Boisleux-au-Mont
Boisleux-au-Mont () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France.
Geography
A farming village located 6 miles (10 km) south of Arras at the junction of the D35 and D36 roads.
Population
...
.
Tributes and legacy
In 1919 poet
Harry Webb Farrington published a hymn, "Lionel de Jersey Harvard", including the lines:
Harvard President
Abbott Lawrence Lowell
Abbott Lawrence Lowell (December 13, 1856 – January 6, 1943) was an American educator and legal scholar. He was President of Harvard University from 1909 to 1933.
With an "aristocratic sense of mission and self-certainty," Lowell cut a large f ...
called Lionel Harvard's death "a great personal loss", noting that Lionel, like John Harvard, died just three years after taking his degree;
Lowell's personal gift of $110,000 built
Lionel Hall
This is a list of dormitories at Harvard College. Only freshmen live in these dormitories, which are located in and around Harvard Yard. Sophomores, juniors and seniors live in the House system.
Apley Court
South of Harvard Yard on Holyoke Stree ...
(1925) as a memorial.
In his 1923 Commencement address, Lowell related a letter written by a British officer seeking advice on preparing his sons for Harvard College. In Lowell's telling, this officer explained that near the end of the war, he had
Lionel and Kenneth were remembered on the memorial at their first school, Malvern House School, Lewisham Park (destroyed in an air raid during World War II) and on a memorial at the Wesleyan Church (now demolished)
at Sydenham.
In 1923 the
Associated Harvard Clubs
''Harvard Magazine'' is an independently edited magazine and separately incorporated affiliate of Harvard University. Aside from ''The Harvard Crimson'', it is the only publication covering the entire university, and also regularly distributed t ...
established the Lionel de Jersey Harvard Scholarship,
which annually funds a year's study at Emmanuel College by a Harvard College graduate.
There was discussion of arranging for Lionel's son John Peter to follow his father to Harvard,
but after he attended the
school's tercentenary celebration as a guest in September 1936, ''Time'' reported that he would likely continue his education in England.
As a major in 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 ...
during World War II he survived
imprisonment by the Japanese after being captured in the
Battle of Singapore
The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of ...
.
A second Harvard, John Harvard of
Andes, New York
Andes is a town in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 1,114 at the 2020 census.2020 US Census, Andes, Delaware County, New York https://www.census.gov/search-results.html?searchType=web&cssp=SERP&q=Andes%20town,%20D ...
, graduated ''
cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
'' from Harvard College in 1969.
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvard, Lionel de Jersey
1893 births
1918 deaths
People educated at St Olave's Grammar School
English expatriates in the United States
Harvard University alumni
British Army personnel of World War I
British military personnel killed in World War I
Grenadier Guards officers
Burials in Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in France