William Thomas Payne-Gallwey (25 March 1881 – 14 September 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 ...

officer and first-class cricketer. A career military officer, he was commissioned into the York and Lancaster Regiment before transferring to the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

and serving 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 Sout ...

. He played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

in 1912, before being killed in action 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 ...

in September 1914.

Life and military career

The son of

Ralph Payne-Gallwey Sir Ralph William Frankland Payne-Gallwey, 3rd Baronet (1848–1916) was an English engineer, historian, ballistics expert, and artist. Life The son of Sir William Payne-Gallwey, 2nd Baronet, and his wife Emily Anne, a daughter of Sir Robert Fra ...

and his wife, Edith Alice Usborne, he was born at Blackrock in Ireland. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

, before enlisting in the 4th (Hallamshire) Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment as 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 February 1900. He was transferred to the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

in August 1900, with whom he served in South Africa during the

. He was promoted to the rank of

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 April 1904, while in June 1908 he was made a member 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, o ...

(fifth class). He was promoted to the rank of

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 ...

in July 1908 and was seconded to the Macedonian Gendarmerie. He made his debut in

for the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

in May 1912 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 ...

. Later in the same month he played a first-class match for the

British Army cricket team The Army cricket team is a cricket side representing the British Army. The Army team played 51 first-class matches between 1912 and 1939, although a combined Army and Navy side had played two games against a combined Oxford and Cambridge team ...

against the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

at Lord's. He scored 37 runs across his two matches and took 2 wickets with his right-arm

fast bowling Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

. He served during the opening stages of the

, travelling to France with the 2nd Grenadier Guards in August 1914. He was reported missing in action in September 1914, and despite rumours that he had been taken prisoner by the Germans, these proved to be unfounded and he is believed to have been killed in action on 14 September at

Vendresse-Beaulne Vendresse-Beaulne () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It was established in 1923, combining the commune of Beaulne-et-Chivy with the neighboring commune of Vendresse-et-Troyon. Population See also ...

. His body was never recovered and he was commemorated on the

La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial The La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial is a World War I memorial in France, located on the south bank of the river Marne, on the outskirts of the commune of La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, 66 kilometres east of Paris, in the department of Seine-et-Marne. Al ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Payne-Gallwey, William 1881 births 1914 deaths British Army cricketers British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I People from Blackrock, Dublin Sportspeople from Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown People educated at Eton College York and Lancaster Regiment officers Grenadier Guards officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Members of the Royal Victorian Order Cricketers from County Dublin Irish cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Missing in action of World War I Missing person cases in France Military personnel from County Dublin