Richard Gennys Fanshawe (22 June 1906 – 14 April 1988) was a British horse rider who competed in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

. He was born at Rathmore, Naas, Kildare, third son of Lieutenant-General Edward Arthur Fanshawe (1859–1952),

K.C.B. 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 ...

, of the Royal Artillery, and Frances Rose, daughter of Sir

James Macaulay Higginson Sir James Macaulay Higginson (1805 – 28 June 1885) was an Anglo-Irish colonial administrator who was Governor of Antigua from 1847 to 1850. Biography Higginson was born in County Antrim, Ireland, the son of Major James Higginson and Mary Ma ...

, K.C.B.,

Governor of British Mauritius The governor of Mauritius was the official who governed the Crown Colony of Mauritius (now Republic of Mauritius) during the British colonial period between 1810 and 1968. Upon the end of British rule and the independence of Mauritius in 1968, th ...

from 1851 to 1857, formerly Governor of

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

1847 to 1850. His middle name, 'Gennys', derived from the marriage on 6 December 1769 of Captain Robert Fanshawe, R.N. to Christiana, daughter of John Gennys, of Whitleigh Hall, Devon, and had been given to members of the Fanshawe family including his grand-uncle Admiral

Edward Gennys Fanshawe Admiral Sir Edward Gennys Fanshawe, (27 November 1814 – 21 October 1906) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth. He was a gifted amateur artist, with much of his work in the National Maritime Museum, Londo ...

(1814-1906), Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth. Fanshawe had a military career in the cavalry; he attained the rank of Major in the

16th/5th Lancers The 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed by the amalgamation of the 16th The Queen's Lancers and the 5th Royal Irish Lancers in 1922. The reason for the uniquely atypical regimental title (wit ...

. In 1936 he and his horse ''Bowie Knife'' won the bronze medal as part of the British eventing team, after finishing 26th in the individual eventing competition. Fanshawe married firstly, in 1932 (divorced 1961), Ruth Violet Mary, daughter of Sir Walter Randolph FitzRoy Farquhar, 5th Baronet, and maternal granddaughter of Thomas Bateson, 1st Baron Deramore. They had two sons, David (1933–2012), a Colonel in the Grenadier Guards, and Brian (1936–2019), who served as a captain in the

9th/12th Royal Lancers The 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1960 by the amalgamation of the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers and the 12th Royal Lancers. In the later years of its existence, the regiment served as ...

; "an exceptional horseman", he was also Master of the

Cottesmore Hunt The Cottesmore Hunt, which hunts mostly in Rutland, is one of the oldest foxhound packs in Britain. Its name comes from the village of Cottesmore where the hounds were kennelled. History The Cottesmore Hunt's origins may be traced back to 166 ...

. In 1963 Fanshawe married secondly Araby Diana, daughter of Philip Ransom; their son, Richard, was born in 1964. Fanshawe died at

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 2003, vol. 1, p. 1201

References

External links

Richard Fanshawe's profile at Sports Reference.com
1906 births 1988 deaths British event riders Olympic equestrians for Great Britain British male equestrians Equestrians at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in equestrian Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers officers 20th-century British Army personnel {{UK-equestrian-bio-stub