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 ...

Fiennes Stanley Wykeham Cornwallis, 1st Baron Cornwallis, (27 May 1864 – 26 September 1935) was a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician.

Early life

Lord Cornwallis was born 27 May 1864 at Chacombe Priory,

Banbury Banbury is an historic market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. The parish had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding ...

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 ...

, the eldest son of Fiennes Cornwallis and Harriet Elizabeth (''née'' Mott). He had one brother and two sisters and was educated at

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 ...

Political career

He was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

as Member of Parliament for

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

in 1888, a seat he held until 1895 and again from 1898 to 1900. He was also chairman of the

Kent County Council Kent County Council is a county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Kent in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes the Unitary authorities of England, unitary auth ...

between 1910 and 1930. In 1927 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Cornwallis, of Linton in the

County of Kent Kent is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Greater London to the north-west. ...

, where his country house, Linton Park, was situated. He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the

Thames and Medway Heavy Brigade, Royal Artillery The Thames and Medway Coast Artillery, which at its peak comprised three full regiments, was formed in Britain's Territorial Army (United Kingdom), Territorial Army in 1932 to man coastal defence guns on both banks of the Thames Estuary. It served ...

, on 11 March 1933.

Family life

Lord Cornwallis married Mabel Leigh, daughter of Oswald Peter Leigh, in 1886. They had seven children, three sons and four daughters. Fiennes Wykeham Mann Cornwallis was killed in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in May 1921 during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...

. Lord Cornwallis was succeeded in the barony by his second son, Wykeham Stanley. Lady Cornwallis died in 1957. Cornwallis was the grandson of Charles Wykeham Martin and great-grandson of

James Mann, 5th Earl Cornwallis James Mann, 5th Earl Cornwallis (20 September 1778 – 21 May 1852), known as James Cornwallis until 1814 and as James Mann between 1814 and 1823 and styled Viscount Brome between 1823 and 1824, was a British peer and Tory politician. Background ...

Freemasonry

He was an eminent Freemason and was Provincial Grand Master of Kent and a ''Past Grand Warden'' in the United Grand Lodge of England. Stanley Wykeham Lodge 6599 Stanley Wykeham Lodge 6599
was named for him.

Bibliography

*Kidd, Charles; Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition).
New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.

Notes

References

* * *
The Descendants of William the Conqueror
Page 104

The Conwallis Family
Province of East Kent
History of our Province

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornwallis, Fiennes Cornwallis, 1st Baron 1864 births 1935 deaths People educated at Eton College Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies English justices of the peace UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs who were granted peerages People from Banbury Military personnel from Oxfordshire Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry officers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deputy lieutenants of Kent

Fiennes Fiennes or Ffiennes may refer to: Places * Fiennes, a commune of the Pas-de-Calais ''département'' in northern France. People A toponymic surname pronounced and borne by a prominent English family, descendant from Eustace I Fiennes, a nobleman ...

Barons created by George V Barons Cornwallis