Pascoe William Grenfell Stuart (25 October 1868 — 5 February 1954) was an Irish actor, colonial administrator, first-class

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er and British Army officer. The son of the British Army General William James Stuart, he was born at Woolwich in October 1868. Pascoe was educated at Sherborne School, where at the age of 15 he was the youngest member of the Sherborne cricket eleven. Upon leaving Sherborne, Stuart began a stage career as a solo sopranist, where he featured at The Crystal Palace in the 1880s. He also took up acting, starring alongside Charles Wyndham in the play ''

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...

''. Stuart was also commissioned as a lieutenant in the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

. Alongside his acting commitments, Pascoe still found time to play cricket in Ireland for Cork County Cricket Club and played a minor match for Ireland against I Zingari in 1892, as a replacement for

David Trotter David Trotter (born 4 March 1986) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Kangaroos Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Trotter grew up in Lockhart, New South Wales, a country town west of Wa ...

. A change in career followed for Stuart, with him abandoning his stage career to pursue a career as a colonial administrator. He firstly served as the private secretary to the Governor of the Windward Islands, before being appointed as aide-de-camp in 1896 to the Governor of Queensland, a role he held until 1902. He returned to Ireland in 1902 and resumed playing for County Cork, where he regularly opened the batting alongside

William Harman William Crooke Ronayne Harman (29 May 1869 in County Cork, Ireland – 4 July 1962 in County Cork) was an Irish cricketer. He played just once for the Ireland cricket team, a first-class match against Yorkshire in May 1907. His brother George p ...

. Good form for Cork County saw Stuart recalled to the Ireland team as a late replacement for

Oscar Andrews Oscar Andrews (24 July 1876 – 30 October 1956) was an Irish cricket and field hockey player. When playing cricket he was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium pace bowler. He made his debut for Irish cricket team in their first first ...

in their match against W. G. Grace's London County at The Mardyke in 1903. His batting in the match, during which he scored 55 in the Irish first innings, led to Grace inviting Stuart to come to England to play for London County. He did so the following year, making his debut in first-class cricket for London County against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

, with him also featuring in a second match in the same year against

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

at The Oval. Although he failed to impress in his first match, in the second match against Surret he top scored in London County's second innings with 50. In that same summer, Stuart captained Ireland against Cambridge University, following a number of late withdrawals which included the regular captain Sir Tim O'Brien. His Irish career came to an end that summer, but was almost resumed in 1910 when Stuart was selected to captain Ireland against Scotland, but he was unable to fulfill the fixture and was replaced as captain by

Jack Meldon John Michael Meldon (29 September 1869 in Dublin, Ireland – 12 December 1954 in Tunbridge Wells, United Kingdom) was an Irish cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm bowler. He played cricket at the Jesuits St Stanislaus Colle ...

. With the onset of the First World War, Stuart was called up for military service with the Remounts as part of the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...

, where it was noted that Stuart and Sir Tim O'Brien, who was also serving in the Remounts, had a fractious relationship. He was a temporary

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 ...

by the latter stages of the war and was made an acting

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 ...

in January 1918. In August of the same year he was appointed a superintendent of a Remount Depot, a role he vacated in February 1919. In the same month his war service came to an end, with Pascoe being granted the full rank of major. Following he war, he returned to Ireland where he stayed following the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

, settling at

Cobh Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. With a population of around 13,000 inhabitants, Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour and home to Ireland's ...

. He died there in February 1954. He had assumed the additional surname of French under Royal License in 1917.

Family

Stuart married Elizabeth Julia Soames, daughter of James Kolle Soames. Stuart and Soames had two children: *Lt Col. Robert Fitzroy Hamilton Pascoe Stuart-French of the

11th Hussars The 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army established in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 10th Royal Hussars (Pri ...

, married Eileen de Grey D'Arcy, widow of Henry Staveley-Hill. *Margaret Gwendolin Wanda Stuart-French, married Colonel Peter Wilson of the

1st Royal Dragoons The Royal Dragoons (1st Dragoons) was a heavy cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1661 as the Tangier Horse. It served for three centuries and was in action during the First and the Second World Wars. It was amalgama ...

(cousin of

Sir Leslie Orme Wilson Sir Leslie Orme Wilson, (1 August 1876 – 29 September 1955) was a Royal Marines officer, Conservative politician, and colonial governor. He served as Governor of Bombay from 1923 to 1926 and as Governor of Queensland from 1932 to 1946. Per ...

and of Cecil Wilson) and had one son, Leslie Peter Stuart Wilson also temporarily of the

who married Philippa Felicia Goldwyre Lester, widow of Cecil Davidge. Pascoe Stuart-French died at Marino House,

on 5 February 1954. Following his death Marino went to his only son, Lt Col. Robert Stuart-French.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, Pascoe 1868 births 1954 deaths Actors from the Royal Borough of Greenwich People educated at Sherborne School King's Royal Rifle Corps officers Irish actors Irish sopranos British colonial governors and administrators in the Americas British colonial governors and administrators in Oceania Irish cricketers London County cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers British Army personnel of World War I Royal Army Service Corps officers Male actors from Kent People from Woolwich