Clarence Napier Bruce, 3rd Baron Aberdare, GBE (2 August 1885 – 4 October 1957), styled The Honourable from 1895 to 1929, was a British military officer,

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 str ...

er,

tennis player Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cove ...

, and also an excellent

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

er. He was the second son of

Henry Bruce, 2nd Baron Aberdare Henry Campbell Bruce, 2nd Baron Aberdare (19 June 1851 – 20 February 1929), styled The Honourable from 1873 to 1895, was a British soldier and peer. Background Bruce was the eldest son of Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare, who had served as Home ...

. Bruce received his education at

Twyford School Twyford School is a co-educational, independent, preparatory boarding and day school, located in the village of Twyford, Hampshire, England. History Twyford states itself to be the oldest preparatory school in the United Kingdom. It moved to i ...

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

and at New College, Oxford, and was admitted as a barrister of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

; however, when

World War I 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 ...

broke out, he decided to enter 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 ...

. His elder brother was killed in action in 1914, making him

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

to his father's barony. Lord Aberdare, who would rise to the substantive rank of captain (and would become an honorary

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 ...

) in World War I, served variously in the

Glamorgan Yeomanry The Glamorgan Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army originally raised in the late 18th century as a result of concern over the threat of invasion by the French. It was re-raised in the Second Boer War and saw service in both the Fi ...

, the

2nd Life Guards The 2nd Regiment of Life Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1788 by the union of the 2nd Troop of Horse Guards and 2nd Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. In 1922, it was amalgamated ...

, the headquarters of the

61st (2nd South Midland) Division The 61st (2nd South Midland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army raised in 1915 during the Great War as a second-line reserve for the first-line battalions of the 48th (South Midland) Division. The division was sent to the We ...

and in the

Guards Machine Gun Regiment The Guards Machine Gun Regiment was a regiment of the British Army, formed for service in the First World War. When the Guards Division was formed in August 1915, it included three machine gun companies, with a fourth added in March 1917. In Apr ...

; in 1919, immediately after the armistice, he was promoted to captain. He inherited the barony in 1929. He served as the honorary colonel of the 77 (later 282) (Welsh) Heavy AA Brigade, RA from 1930 to 1952; during this period, he additionally served as major of the 11th Battalion, Surrey Home Guards during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Between the two world wars, he was an active real tennis player. Bruce was U.S.A. Amateur Champion in 1930 and of the British Isles in 1932 and 1938. He played eighteen times for Great Britain in the Bathurst Cup and six times won the Coupe de Paris. He carried off the M.C.C. Gold Prize on five occasions and nine times won the Silver Prize. In 1937, Aberdare was appointed chairman of the National Fitness Council, the first attempt at a Sports Council in England. It quickly established 22 area committees to help with its aim of promoting a fit population. It was funded by the Department of Education and provided capital grants for new facilities and other grants to help with the appointment of trainers and leaders. It had a difficult two years before being dissolved in October 1939. These included liaison with existing statutory and voluntary organisations. In absorbing the Juvenile Organisations Committee and its local committees it alienated many who had worked towards bridging the gap between recreation provided at school and to the wider community (14–20 age group). In addition there was much support for compulsory physical training as opposed to the council's approach of a voluntary ethos. Coats of Arms of Clarence Bruce (3rd Baron Aberdare)

Coats of Arms of Clarence Bruce (3rd Baron Aberdare)

Simultaneously, Aberdare played an active role in the organisation of the Olympics; he served on the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

, and on the organising committee of the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

in London. He was a key player in the decision to send British athletes to Hitler's 1936 Olympics, asserting that "neither nor his colleagues 'had yet heard of a genuine case of an Olympic athlete being boycotted or impeded because of his non-Aryan origin'", this despite Nazi Germany's overtly stated anti-semitism. He served in many physical education and sportsmen's clubs, and was also be a member of the New College Society. In 1948, he was created a Knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire a year later. In 1954, he was additionally created a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire. Aberdare's first wife, née Margaret Bethune Black, died on 8 February 1950. On 12 September 1957 Aberdare married his second wife, the actress Griselda Hervey. The couple drove to attend the 53rd Session of the IOC in Sofia, held from 23 to 28 September. After the IOC meeting finished, Aberdare and Griselda began driving home through

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

as part of their honeymoon. On 4 October 1957 their car left the road near Risan and fell into the sea. Aberdare, aged 72, drowned and Griselda, his wife, aged 56, was injured. The repatriation of Lord Aberdare's body was arranged by Sir John Lambert at the UK embassy in Belgrade: as coffins were not permitted on passenger flights, Lambert concealed Aberdare's body among the cellos of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra.

References

External reading

*Ed. Charles Mosley. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage''. Copyright 2003; Burke's Peerage and Gentry: Wilmington, Delaware. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aberdare, Clarence Bruce, 3rd Baron 1885 births 1957 deaths Alumni of New College, Oxford People educated at Twyford School British Army personnel of World War I British Home Guard officers British Life Guards officers Deaths by drowning English cricketers English male tennis players Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Inner Temple Middlesex cricketers People educated at Winchester College Road incident deaths in Yugoslavia International Olympic Committee members British sports executives and administrators Knights of Grace of the Order of St John Oxford University cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Wales cricketers Harlequins cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers Glamorgan Yeomanry officers British male tennis players Younger sons of barons 20th-century British businesspeople

Clarence Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a l ...