Thomas Hesketh Douglas Blair Cochrane, 13th Earl of Dundonald (21 February, 1886 – 23 May, 1958) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who served in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He was also a

Scottish representative peer This is a list of representative peers elected from the Peerage of Scotland to sit in the House of Lords after the Acts of Union 1707 abolished the unicameral Parliament of Scotland, where all Scottish Peers had been entit ...

from 1941 to 1955 and chairman of the Anglo-Chilean Society.

Personal life

Thomas Hesketh Douglas Blair Cochrane (nicknamed 'Cocky' by his friends) was born on 21 February, 1886, the son of

Douglas Cochrane, 12th Earl of Dundonald Lieutenant-General Douglas Mackinnon Baillie Hamilton Cochrane, 12th Earl of Dundonald (29 October 1852 – 12 April 1935), styled Lord Cochrane between 1860 and 1885, was a British Army officer and politician. Early life Cochrane was the sec ...

and Winifred Bamford-Hesketh (died 1924), he was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

. He succeeded to the Earldom of Dundonald and its subsidiary titles of 13th Lord Cochrane of Paseley and Ochiltrie on the death of his father, 12 April 1935. He was a representative peer for Scotland between 1941 and 1955, and was the chairman of the Anglo-Chilean Society. He lived a secluded life in his later years at his home in Auchans Castle, Ayrshire where he very rarely partook in public affairs. He died unmarried on 23 May 1958 whilst on holiday at

Montreux Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

at the age of 72.

Army

He entered the

Scots Guard The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642 in the Kingdom of Scotland, althoug ...

in 1908 and reached the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, he fought in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in World War I and he was also a

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

for the

Egyptian Expeditionary Force The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a military formation of the British Empire, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–1915), at the ...

. For his services in the war he was awarded the

Order of the Merit of Chile The Order of Merit () is a Chilean order of merit and was created in 1929. Succeeding the Medal of the Merit, which was created during the term of the President Germán Riesco through the Minister of War decree No. 1350 on 4 September 1906. This ...

and made a Grand Officer, Order por Servicios Distinguidos of Peru.Mosley, Charles. ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition'', volume 1, Burke's Peerage & Gentry, page 1229, 2003. In November 1914, Thomas was 'invalided' home after having been wounded while fighting with his regiment at the front line.

Gwrych Castle

The family seat was located at

Gwrych Castle Gwrych Castle (; ) is a Listed building, Grade I listed country house near Abergele in Conwy County Borough, Wales. On an ancient site, the current building was created by Lloyd Hesketh Bamford-Hesketh and his descendants over much of the 19th ...

. The estate was acquired by the 12th Earl of Dundonald in 1878, through his marriage to Winifred Bamford-Hesketh, sole heiress of Robert Bamford-Hesketh. In 1919, Cochrane's mother sold portions of the family estate, including surrounding land and mines. When she died in 1924, she left the remainder of the estate to King George V. The King, unable to accept the gift, turned the property over to the Order of St John of Jerusalem. In 1928, the estate was eventually sold back to the 12th Earl of Dundonald for £78,000. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the estate was used to house 200 Jewish refugee children from the

Kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children from Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, total ...

. In 1946, following the war, the 13th Earl of Dundonald, resold the entire estate to Robert Rennie of Chester for £12,000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dundonald, Thomas Cochrane, 13th Earl 1886 births 1958 deaths People from Dundonald, South Ayrshire Nobility from South Ayrshire 13 Scots Guards officers Scottish representative peers British Army personnel of World War I

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...