Arthur Annesley, 11th Viscount Valentia, (23 August 1843 – 20 January 1927) was a British soldier, courtier and Conservative Party politician. He notably served as

Comptroller of the Household The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptroller was an ''ex officio'' member of ...

between 1898 and 1905.

Background and education

Annesley was the eldest son of the Honourable Arthur Annesley by his wife Flora Mary Macdonald, daughter of Lt. Colonel James Macdonald of Clanranald. His father died when he was one year oldthepeerage.com Arthur Annesley, 11th Viscount Valentia
/ref> and he succeeded his grandfather in the viscountcy in 1863. He was educated at the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...

Military career

Annesley joined the

10th Hussars The 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 11th Hussars (Prince ...

in 1864 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1868. He retired from the Army in 1872, but in 1894 was appointed Lieutenant colonel of the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars. In early 1900, Lord Valentia was seconded for service with the

Imperial Yeomanry The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer mounted force of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Created on 2 January 1900, the force was initially recruited from the middle classes and traditional yeomanry sources, but s ...

in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

, and left for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in the '' SS Scot'' in late January. He served as Assistant Adjutant-General for Imperial Yeomanry, with the temporary rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), 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 colon ...

, and was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

and appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(CB) in November 1900 for his services. Upon relinquishing his commission, he was granted, on 1 January 1901, the honorary rank of Colonel in the Army.

Political career

He was appointed High Sheriff of Oxfordshire for 1874–75. The viscountcy of Valentia was an

Irish peerage The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

and did not entitle Annesley to an automatic seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. He was instead elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

in 1895, a seat he held until 1917. He served as

under

Lord Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903), known as Lord Salisbury, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United ...

from 1898 to 1902 and under

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour (; 25 July 184819 March 1930) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As Foreign Secretary ...

from 1902 to 1905. He was appointed a

Member of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(MVO) in July 1901. When the

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

was formed in 1915, Lord Valentia was appointed a Lord in Waiting, a post he held until 1924. In 1917 he was created Baron Annesley of Bletchington, in the County of Oxford, in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

, which entitled him to a seat in the House of Lords. He was made a

Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(KCVO) in 1923.

Family

Lord Valentia married, on 30 January 1878, Laura Sarah Webb, daughter of Daniel Hale Webb, of Wykeham Park,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, and widow of Sir Algernon William Peyton, 4th Baronet.Ruvigny (1907), p. 237 They had two sons and six daughters: *Hon. Vere (8 March 1879 – 18 May 1975); married Rev. Guy Ronald Campbell, grandson of John Campbell, 2nd Earl Cawdor. *Lt. Hon. Arthur (24 August 1880 – 16 November 1914); unmarried. Killed in action in France. *Hon. Violet Katherine (18 March 1882 – 4 September 1963); married Maj. Charles Henry Gore, son of Sir Francis Charles Gore. They had a son, and two daughters. * Sir Caryl Arthur (3 July 1883 – 6 October 1949); unmarried. *Hon. Helen (30 July 1884 – 21 July 1965); married Col. John Pemberton Heywood-Lonsdale. No known issue. *Hon. Lettice (24 Sep 1885–1988); married Capt. Geoffrey Vaux Salvin Bowlby, maternal grandson of Sir David Hunter-Blair, 3rd Baronet. *Hon. Hilda Cecil (19 April 1889 – 20 September 1972); unmarried. *Hon. Dorothy (b. 11 May 1892); married Joseph Francis Vaughan Gibbs, maternal descendant of Sir Charles Mordaunt, 6th Baronet and Sir Philip Musgrave, 6th Baronet. They had two daughters.

Death

Lord Valentia died in January 1927, aged 83, and was succeeded by his younger son, the Hon. Caryl Arthur James Annesley, as Lord Valentia's elder son, the Hon. Arthur Annesley, was killed in action in 1914.

Polo

He was the Chairman of the Hurlingham Club Committee and the National Polo Pony Society.Horace A. Laffaye, ''Polo in Britain: A History'',

Jefferson, North Carolina Jefferson is a town in and the county seat of Ashe County, North Carolina, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 1,622. History The North Carolina General Assembly created a special commission in 1799 to found a county seat fo ...

, McFarland & Company, 2012, p. 10

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Ruvigny (Marquess de) (1907). ''

The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal Melville Amadeus Henry Douglas Heddle de la Caillemotte de Massue de Ruvigny (26 April 1868 – 6 October 1921) was a British genealogist and author who was twice president of the Legitimist Jacobite League of Great Britain and Ireland. He styled ...

'', "Exeter" volume

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Valentia, Arthur Annesley, 11th Viscount 1843 births 1927 deaths Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich 10th Royal Hussars officers Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Annesley, Arthur Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Annesley, Arthur Annesley, Arthur Annesley, Arthur Annesley, Arthur Annesley, Arthur UK MPs who were granted peerages UK MPs who inherited peerages Hereditary peers elected to the House of Commons Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting High sheriffs of Oxfordshire

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars officers Barons created by George V