General
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
Sir Thomas Kelly-Kenny, (27 February 1840 – 26 December 1914) 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 ...
general who served in 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 South ...
.
Military and political career
Thomas Kelly was born on 27 February 1840 in
Kilrush,
County Clare
County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,81 ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, the fifth son of Matthew Kelly and Mary Kenny. He was educated as a lay student at
St. Patrick's College, Carlow
St Patrick's, Carlow College, is a liberal arts college located in Carlow, Ireland. The college is the second oldest third level institution in Ireland and was founded in 1782 by James Keefe, then Roman Catholic Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, and ...
(
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
). He assumed in 1874 the additional name of Kenny, under the will of his maternal uncle, Dr. Mathias Kenny, a survivor of the Peninsular War and the Battle of Waterloo.
Kelly-Kenny was appointed
ensign
An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...
without
purchase
Purchasing is the process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary greatly between ...
in the 1st Battalion,
2nd (The Queen's Royal) Regiment of Foot
The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) was a line infantry regiment of the English and later the British Army from 1661 to 1959. It was the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, behind only the Royal Scots in the British Arm ...
on 2 February 1858 and was appointed to command the escort of General
Sir James Jackson,
General Officer Commanding Cape of Good Hope. When this officer was succeeded by General Wynward, Kelly-Kenny was appointed
aide-de-camp (ADC). He resigned this post on the outbreak of
war with China in 1860 and accompanied his regiment to the Far East where he was appointed ADC to the commander of the Queen's, Sir Alfred Jephson, holding this post for the duration of the war. He was promoted lieutenant by purchase on 12 October 1860, the day Pekin surrendered to the allies, and engaged in the China war at Sinho and at the taking of Tanku and Taku forts. He was
mentioned in despatches. He was appointed captain by purchase on 20 July 1866. He was (acting) Deputy Assistant
Quartermaster General (QMG) in Bombay from 25 May 1869 to April 1870 when he was sent to
Abyssinia
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...
on the outbreak of war. He was in charge of the transport train and was mentioned by Lord Napier in despatches for "zeal, energy and ability". In 1875 he graduated at the
staff college
Staff colleges (also command and staff colleges and War colleges) train military officers in the administrative, military staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career. For e ...
, and was promoted major in 1877.
Kelly-Kenny took a keen interest in affairs in his native County Clare and in 1876 he was appointed Justice of the Peace for Clare (after he inherited his estates), as were his father Matthew Kelly, his uncle Mathias Kenny and his brother Matthew Butler Kelly. In 1876 the then Captain Thomas Kelly Kenny held 5,736 acres in Clare. He was patron of the school at Scropul near Treanmanagh founded by his uncle Dr Mathias Kenny.
His family had a strong history of involvement in politics and local government. His mother's first cousin Richard Kenny was Vice Provost for
Ennis in 1827 and also served as a
grand juror.
[Dunboyne collection of newspaper clippings on Clare, National Library of Ireland.] Another of their first cousins, Dean John Kenny of Kilrush and Ennis, was an active figure in political and social reform in those towns. His second cousin Fr Matthew J Kenny was one of the first two presidents of the Clare Farmers' Association and a founder member of the
Land League
The Irish National Land League ( Irish: ''Conradh na Talún'') was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which sought to help poor tenant farmers. Its primary aim was to abolish landlordism in Ireland and enable tenant farme ...
.
[''The Diocese of Killaloe, 1850–1904'', by Ignatius Murphy (1994).] His uncle Fr Timothy Kelly was an active campaigner for famine relief as parish priest of Kilrush in the famine years. In the late 1840s his father Matthew Kelly and other Gallery and Kenny relatives were poor law guardians.
In 1879, the then Major Thomas Kelly-Kenny put his name forward for the April by-election in County Clare. He was opposed by the Catholic clergy, so withdrew his candidacy and did not go to the poll. Ignatius Murphy
recounts in his history of Killaloe diocese (p. 225) that Bishop Ryan and his priests met in Ennis to discuss the merits of the various potential candidates and did not endorse Kelly-Kenny. The ''Limerick & Tipperary Vindicator'' reported on 11 April that the Bishop and many curates were pro-Major Kelly-Kenny as he was Catholic, locally born and a local landowner. Against him were his Liberal politics. The majority of the curates voted against him and the ''Limerick and Tipperary Vindicator'' reported: "A strong adverse expression on behalf of the Catholic curates who constitute a large majority overwhelmed the scales against Major Kelly-Kenny who notwithstanding rumour to the contrary has withdrawn". The paper goes on to quote his resignation letter and also mentions that his (Unionist) cousin Matthew Kenny solicitor of Ennis was his conducting agent.
[''The Clare Elections'', Kieran Sheedy, 1993.] The clergy later supported the O'Gorman Mahon as a home rule candidate. He was narrowly elected. Some of the curates' sentiments are possibly expressed by Father Matthew J Kenny in his post-election address. He expressed a wish for the downfall of the Liberal and Tory parties in Ireland and the end of Landlord Tyrannies.
Cecil Stacpoole Kenny recounts that Major Kelly-Kenny's name was one of the three on the roll that went to the Lord Lieutenant for the High Sheriff of Clare in 1880 but he did not succeed. This post was by appointment. He was later appointed Deputy Lieutenant for Clare in 1901. The papers confirming his appointment are in the Irish Jesuit Archives.
[
Kelly-Kenny was promoted lieutenant colonel on 26 July 1881. He was Assistant ]Adjutant General
An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer.
France
In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...
(AAG) and QMG from that date until 30 June 1889. Continuing in senior appointments, he was AAG and QMG, North-Eastern District from 1 July 1889 to 21 September 1892, where he commanded the training camp at Strensall
Strensall is a village in the Strensall with Towthorpe civil parish in the unitary authority of the City of York in North Yorkshire, England, on the River Foss north of York and north-east of Haxby. From the 2011 Census, the civil parish of ...
Camp, Yorkshire. He became AAG Aldershot Garrison on 28 December 1893 on the staff of the Duke of Connaught
Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom that was granted on 24 May 1874 by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to her third son, Prince Arthur. At the same time, he was also ...
and then commanded a brigade at Aldershot from 18 March 1896.
Second Boer War
In 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 South ...
of 1899–1902 Kelly-Kenny was, as a lieutenant general
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
, General Officer Commanding the 6th Division of the South African field force. He was twice mentioned in despatches and received the Queen’s South African Medal with four clasps. He was involved in the relief of Kimberley
The siege of Kimberley took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Cape Colony (present-day South Africa), when Boer forces from the Orange Free State and the Transvaal besieged the diamond mining town. The Boers moved quickly to tr ...
, the battles of Paardeberg
The Battle of Paardeberg or Perdeberg ("Horse Mountain") was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. It was fought near ''Paardeberg Drift'' on the banks of the Modder River in the Orange Free State near Kimberley.
Lord Methuen adv ...
, Poplar Grove and Driefontein.
At the battle of Paardeberg, Kelly-Kenny had a conservative plan to besiege General Cronje and bombard his Boer force from a safe distance with superior artillery. When Lord Roberts became ill, he appointed Lieutenant-General Herbert Kitchener
Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, (; 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a senior British Army officer and colonial administrator. Kitchener came to prominence for his imperial campaigns, his scorched earth policy against the Boers, h ...
as commander. He overruled Kelly-Kenny and ordered an assault on the Boer trenches. The result was 'Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday may refer to:
Historical events Canada
* Bloody Sunday (1923), a day of police violence during a steelworkers' strike for union recognition in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
* Bloody Sunday (1938), police violence aga ...
' — an unnecessary sacrifice of hundreds of lives on the British side.
War Office appointment
Kelly-Kenny was a close friend of King Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...
who treated him as confidential military advisor. In October 1901 he was appointed Adjutant-General to the Forces
The Adjutant-General to the Forces, commonly just referred to as the Adjutant-General (AG), was for just over 250 years one of the most senior officers in the British Army. The AG was latterly responsible for developing the Army's personnel polic ...
, which post he held until 1904. This was at the insistence of the King, who liked him for his industry and administrative capacity and dislike of jobbery. However, Lord Roberts (the commander in chief) did not share this opinion and viewed Kelly-Kenny as conservative about reform, and the War Office was opposed to his appointment. Kelly-Kenny did not work well with his colleagues, who tried to get his powers reduced (which the King opposed). They then tried to move him back to command in 1902, offering him the 4th Army Corps. This he declined. The King was happy about the General's decision. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as o ...
(KCB) in the 1902 Coronation Honours
The 1902 Coronation Honours were announced on 26 June 1902, the date originally set for the coronation of King Edward VII. The coronation was postponed because the King had been taken ill two days before, but he ordered that the honours list shou ...
list published on 26 June 1902, and received the knighthood in a private audience on 2 August, during the King′s convalescence on board HMY ''Victoria and Albert''. In September 1902, Kelly-Kenny accompanied Lord Roberts and St John Brodrick
William St John Fremantle Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton, KP, PC, DL (14 December 185613 February 1942), styled as St John Brodrick until 1907 and as Viscount Midleton between 1907 and 1920, was a British Conservative and Irish Unionist Alli ...
, Secretary of State for War, on a visit to Germany to attend the German army maneuvers as guest of the Emperor Wilhelm. In October that year, when again it was suggested that he be transferred to an army corps, the King wrote to Mr Broderick saying that the Adjutant General was a most able officer with a thorough knowledge of his profession who would be a loss to the War Office and that he was most surprised that Lord Hornby described him as reactionary when it came to reform. The War Office bowed to the King's wishes and left Kelly-Kenny in his post until the reforms in 1904. Kelly-Kenny did accept the appointment as Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...
of his regiment, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) was a line infantry regiment of the English and later the British Army from 1661 to 1959. It was the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, behind only the Royal Scots in the British Ar ...
, on 16 April 1902, and served as such until his death.
Later life
On 21 June 1904 Kelly-Kenny was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB). In 1905 he attended the wedding of the Crown Prince of Germany with Prince Arthur of Connaught
Prince Arthur of Connaught (Arthur Frederick Patrick Albert; 13 January 1883 – 12 September 1938) was a British military officer and a grandson of Queen Victoria. He served as Governor-General of the Union of South Africa from 20 November 1920 ...
on which occasion the Kaiser decorated him with the Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle. (He had previously received the Order of the Red Eagle 1st class from the Kaiser). In 1906,[''The Garter Mission to Japan'', Lord Redesdale, Bibliolife, 2009.] he accompanied Prince Arthur of Connaught
Prince Arthur of Connaught (Arthur Frederick Patrick Albert; 13 January 1883 – 12 September 1938) was a British military officer and a grandson of Queen Victoria. He served as Governor-General of the Union of South Africa from 20 November 1920 ...
to Japan as part of a mission to present the Order of the Garter to the Emperor. While on this trip and speaking with the Mikado
Mikado may refer to:
* Emperor of Japan or
Arts and entertainment
* ''The Mikado'', an 1885 comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan
* ''The Mikado'' (1939 film), an adaptation of the opera, directed by Victor Schertzinger
* ''The Mikado'' (1967 f ...
, the Mikado remarked on how he had to improve the horses in Japan, the breed being small. According to Redesdale (p. 26), Kelly-Kenny replied that "It is not always the big horses and the big men that do the best work" which compliment made the Mikado smile. On this trip he received from the Emperor the Grand Cross of the Rising Sun. On his return to England he received from King Edward VII the Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...
(GCVO). Documentation on his trip is held in the Irish Jesuit Archives.[
Kelly-Kenny was quite a celebrity appearing on cigarette cards commemorating his Boer War successes and marches. He was friendly with several members of the Royal Family, including the Prince of Wales and ]Prince Arthur of Connaught
Prince Arthur of Connaught (Arthur Frederick Patrick Albert; 13 January 1883 – 12 September 1938) was a British military officer and a grandson of Queen Victoria. He served as Governor-General of the Union of South Africa from 20 November 1920 ...
and stayed in both Sandringham and Frogmore as a guest of the Prince of Wales on shooting parties. Shooting cards from the Sandringham shoots are in the possession of descendants of the General's heir Thomas O'Gorman, as is a chair made from Elm on the royal estate given to Kelly-Kenny. He was a regular at court and was on friendly terms with Queen Alexandra
Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 t ...
, who carved a tea table for him herself. He accompanied the French ex- Empress Eugenie on a yachting tour around Ireland in 1909.
Kelly-Kenny lived largely in Britain, where his clubs were Army and Navy and Arthur's
Arthur's was a London gentlemen's club, now dissolved, which was established in 1811 and was disbanded in 1940. Between 1827 and 1940 it was based at 69 St James's Street. It is now best remembered for having built the London clubhouse currentl ...
, and he let his house at Doolough Lodge in County Clare to his brother Matthew Butler Kelly JP, who is recorded as living at that address in Thom's Directories. There are unsubstantiated reports that royalty stayed at Doolough Lodge with Kelly-Kenny, for example that King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...
visited Doolough Lodge, as Prince of Wales in 1906 and that George V stayed at Doolough Lodge during his visit to Ireland in July 1911.
Kelly-Kenny retired in 1907. He sold his lands to the tenants under the 1909 Land Purchase Act in 1909.
In his Bureau of Military History Witness Statement, Seán Fitzgibbon reports that at a meeting in Dublin on 3 August 1914, the day on which Britain declared war on Germany, Sir Thomas Myles, who the previous weekend had landed a consignment of guns for the Irish Volunteers at Kilcoole, said he had a leader for the Irish Volunteers (who should take over the defence of Ireland and re-create Grattan's Parliament) in the person of Kelly-Kenny.
Cecil Stacpoole Kenny records that one of the last things he did was to visit his cousin Lieutenant Bertram Maurice Kenny in hospital, where he was seriously wounded. Kelly-Kenny was proud of the family connection with Lieutenant Kenny's father William Kenny (judge, privy councillor and Unionist MP) to whom he left £1000 in his will.[
Kelly-Kenny died at Hove on 26 December 1914. He is buried in Hove Cemetery having left strict instructions in his will that he did not want a military funeral.
The executors of his will][England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1915.] included his nephews Matthew Devitt, a Jesuit priest, and Thomas O'Gorman, of Cahircalla, to whom he left the bulk of his large estate, with some small bequests to other family members. A collection of his personal papers inherited by Fr Devitt are now in the Irish Jesuit Archives.[
]
References
Further reading
* ''Houses of Clare'', Hugh W.L. Weir, Ballinakella Press, Whitegate, Co. Clare, 1986. (The references to the royal visit to Doolough Lodge in this book have not been verifiable from other sources.)
* ''The Boer War'', Thomas Pakenham, Cardinal, 1979; .
* ''The Great Boer War'', Arthur Conan Doyle, London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1902.
* ''Mitford's Japan: The Memoirs and Recollections, 1866–1906, of Algernon Bertram Mitford, the First Lord Redesdale'' by Mitford, Hugh Cortazzi, Algernon Bertram Mitford.
* Genealogies of Kenny and Lysaght, Cecil Stacpoole Kenny, manuscript National Library of Ireland
External links
Conan Doyle Chapter 20
at www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk Website of Surrey Regiment (British army)
Clare Champion
(published 10 June 2011, web version undated)
Anglo Boer war
containing extracts from many books which mention Kelly-Kenny in the course of the Boer war and a letter written from him to Lord Roberts in 1900.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly-Kenny, Thomas
People from County Clare
British Army generals
People of the Second Boer War
British military personnel of the Abyssinian War
British Army personnel of the Second Opium War
British Army personnel of the Second Boer War
Alumni of Carlow College
Alumni of University of London Worldwide
Alumni of the University of London
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
1840 births
1914 deaths
19th-century Irish people
20th-century Irish people
People from Kilrush
Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun