Francis Annesley, 6th Earl of Annesley (25 February 1884 – 6 November 1914), styled Viscount Glerawly between 1884 and 1908, was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

peer,

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer and pioneer aviator who died in a plane crash at sea.

Biography

He was the only son of Hugh Annesley, 5th Earl Annesley and his first wife, Mabel Markham. He was born on 25 February 1884 at

Castlewellan Castlewellan () is a small town in County Down, in the south-east of Northern Ireland close to the Irish Sea. It is beside Castlewellan Lake and Slievenaslat mountain, southwest of Downpatrick. It lies between the Mourne Mountains and Slieve ...

, Kilmegan,

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

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 ...

. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

and

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 ...

. He succeeded as Earl Annesley on 15 December 1908. On 14 February 1909 he married Evelyn Hester Mundy. They had no children. He was a Sub-Lieutenant in the

Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original ...

. Later he joined the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

. Before obtaining his age of majority he sailed from Liverpool to Vancouver, around Cape Horn, serving as a sailor before the mast. Later he crossed the Atlantic on board a three-masted schooner yacht ''Karina'' as one of the guests of Robert E. Todd of the New York Yacht club. He was a noted big game shot. Prior to joining 2 (Naval) Squadron,

at Eastchurch, he distinguished himself serving with the R.N.A.S. Armoured Car Division, with his armoured motorcar in helping to check the advance of the Germans on Brussels and in the defence of Antwerp. Lord Annesley was last seen alive on 6 November 1914 leaving Eastchurch, England, in a Bristol T.B.8 biplane, serial 1220, flown by Flight Lieutenant C.F. Beevor, R.N.A.S., bound for France / Flanders. They were never seen again. His death was presumed on 2 December 1914 by Mr. Justice Astbury. Two German prisoners had been interrogated and it was established that the two aviators had been shot down when a German shell had hit the petrol tank of their aircraft and it had fallen in flames near

Diksmuide (; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of proper and the former communes of Beerst, Esen, Kaaskerke, Keiem, Lampernisse, Leke, Nieuwkapelle, Oostkerke ...

Legacy

After his death his estate was valued at £42,751. He was succeeded in his title by his cousin, Walter Beresford Annesley (1861–1934).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Annesley, Francis, 6th Earl 1884 births 1914 deaths Military personnel from County Down People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Royal Navy officers of World War I Aviators killed by being shot down

Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...

British military personnel killed in World War I Royal Naval Air Service personnel of World War I 20th-century Anglo-Irish people 6 Royal Naval Air Service aviators Irish officers in the Royal Navy People from Castlewellan