Christopher William Vane, 10th Baron Barnard, (28 October 1888 – 19 October 1964), was a British peer and military

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

Education

Lord Barnard was born on 28 October 1888, the second son of Henry Vane, 9th Baron Barnard, and his wife, the Lady Catharine Sarah Cecil, who was daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Exeter, at

Barnard Castle Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum has an 18th-century Silver Swan automaton exhibit ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

. Following in the footsteps of his father, he attended

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, but unlike many of his ancestors studied at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, for a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

rather than attending the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. It was at Cambridge that he joined the Freemasons, being initiated into Isaac Newton University Lodge.

Career

Military

Upon the completion of his degree, he entered the armed services, participating in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

as a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the

Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry The Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry was a Yeomanry Cavalry regiment of the British Army with its origins in 1798. The regiment provided troops for the Imperial Yeomanry during the Second Boer War and served on the Western Front in the First ...

in which he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

and wounded in action twice. The citation for his MC, which appeared in ''

The London Gazette ''The London Gazette'', known generally as ''The Gazette'', is one of the official journals of record or government gazettes of the Government of the United Kingdom, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, i ...

'' in July 1918, reads as follows: His eldest brother, the Hon. Henry Cecil Vane,

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to the barony of Barnard, also served in the Great War but was subsequently wounded and died of those wounds shortly thereafter in 1917, leaving his younger brother heir apparent to the title of

Baron Barnard Baron Barnard, of Barnard Castle in the Bishopric of Durham, is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1698 for Christopher Vane, who had previously served as a member of parliament for County Durham and Boroughbridge. Vane w ...

. In 1922, Lord Barnard gained the rank of major in the 6th Battalion of the

Durham Light Infantry The Durham Light Infantry (DLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1968. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and ...

and served with distinction in the battalion until 1931.

Civilian

Upon his retirement from the armed services, Lord Barnard took a number of roles, mostly in the service of County Durham. Between 1920 and 1963 he was Master, and, subsequently, Joint Master of the Zetland Hunt and between the years 1958 and 1964 the

Lord Lieutenant of Durham This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Durham. Lord lieutenants *Henry Neville, 5th Earl of Westmorland 1552–? * Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon 2 August 1586 – 1595 *''vacant'' * Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Som ...

. He was also a

County Commissioner A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the County (United States)#County government, county government in some U.S. state, states of ...

for the Durham Boy Scouts Association. He was a keen

horticulturist Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

. He was a member of

Brooks's Brooks's is a gentlemen's club in St James's Street, London. It is one of the oldest and most exclusive gentlemen's clubs in the world. History In January 1762, a private society was established at 50 Pall Mall by Messrs. Boothby and James ...

gentleman's club and resided at

Raby Castle Raby Castle () is a medieval castle located near Staindrop in County Durham, England, among of deer park. It was built by John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby, between approximately 1367 and 1390. Cecily Neville, the mother of the Kings Ed ...

. Unlike his father, he did not keep a

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

season home at 20

Belgrave Square Belgrave Square is a large 19th-century garden square in London. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and its architecture resembles the original scheme of property contractor Thomas Cubitt who engaged George Basevi for all of the terraces for ...

, SW.

Marriage and issue

On 14 October 1920 he married Sylvia Mary Straker the daughter of Hubert Straker, at St Agatha's,

Gilling West Gilling West is a village about north of Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond in North Yorkshire, England. It is located in the List of civil parishes in North Yorkshire, civil parish of Gilling with Hartforth and Sedbury. It is named "West" to ...

, and had three children: * The Hon. Rosemary Myra Vane (1921–1999) * Harry John Neville Vane, 11th Baron Barnard (1923–2016) * The Hon. Gerald Raby Vane (1926–1993)

Honours and accolades

Lord Barnard received many honours. In 1930 he was

invested Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

as a Commander of the

Order of St. Michael and St. George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

, and gained the honorary rank of Colonel in the service of the 6th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry, his former unit. He was invested as an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1955.

Decline and death

In 1964 he gave up the Lord Lieutenancy of County Durham. Notably, a few weeks before his death he divested himself of all but of the Raby estate. He also resigned from the presidency of the County Territorial Army and

Air Force Association The Air & Space Forces Association (AFA) is an independent, 501(c)(3) non-profit, professional military association for the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, its declared mission is " ...

. He died on 19 October 1964 at the

Royal Victoria Infirmary The Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) is a 673-bed tertiary referral hospital and research centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, with strong links to Newcastle University. The hospital is part of the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation T ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnard, Christopher Vane, 10th Baron 1888 births 1964 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Durham Light Infantry officers Lord-lieutenants of Durham Officers of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Military Cross

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry officers Barons Barnard British Freemasons British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from County Durham Members of Isaac Newton University Lodge Younger sons of barons Territorial Force officers