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 ...

Gilbert George Reginald Sackville, 8th Earl De La Warr JP, DL (22 March 1869 – 16 December 1915), styled The Honourable Gilbert Sackville until 1890 and Viscount Cantelupe between 1890 and 1896, was a British landowner, politician and soldier.

Background

Sackville was the second but only surviving son of Reginald Sackville, 7th Earl De La Warr, by Constance Mary Elizabeth Baillie-Cochrane, daughter of

Alexander Baillie-Cochrane, 1st Baron Lamington Alexander Dundas Ross Cochrane-Wishart-Baillie, 1st Baron Lamington (24 November 1816 – 15 February 1890), better known as Alexander Baillie-Cochrane, was a British Conservative politician perhaps best known for his association with Young Englan ...

. He was educated at

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

. He became

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 earldom in 1890 when his elder brother, Lionel Charles Cranford, Lord Cantelupe, died without issue in a boating accident on Belfast Lough aged twenty-one.thepeerage.com Gilbert George Reginald Sackville, 8th Earl De La Warr
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Sackville, now taking the name Lord Cantelupe as a

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but is rather used by custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some context ...

, twice played

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

at first-class level during the 1890s, in the second match captaining a team under the name "Earl de la Warr's XI" against the touring Australians at his private manor cricket ground. His brother-in-law,

Freeman Thomas Freeman Thomas (born August 20, 1957) is an American automobile and industrial designer who has worked for Porsche, Volkswagen Group, DaimlerChrysler and Ford. Background Thomas, the son of an American military air traffic controller and a German ...

, also played at first-class level.

Public life

Lord Cantelupe was made a Deputy Lieutenant of

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

in 1891. He became a second lieutenant in the 2nd (

Cinque Ports The confederation of Cinque Ports ( ) is a historic group of coastal towns in south-east England – predominantly in Kent and Sussex, with one outlier (Brightlingsea) in Essex. The name is Old French, meaning "five harbours", and alludes to ...

) (or Eastern) Division of the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1891, was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in 1893 and to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in 1894. In January 1896 he succeeded his father in the earldom, aged 25. He resigned his army commission later that year. However, he was re-appointed captain in the 2nd Cinque Ports Division in 1900 and fought 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 ...

, where he was wounded at

Vryheid Vryheid (/Abaqulusi) is a coal mining and cattle ranching town in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Vryheid is the Afrikaans word for "freedom", while its original name of Abaqulusi reflects the AbaQulusi (Zulu), abaQulusi clan based in the loc ...

. He was promoted to major in 1901 but once again resigned his commission in 1902. In 1903 and 1904 De La Warr was Mayor of

Bexhill-on-Sea Bexhill-on-Sea (often shortened to Bexhill) is a seaside town and civil parish in the Rother District in the county of East Sussex in South East England. It is located along the Sussex Coast and between the towns of Hastings, England, Hastings ...

, a town mainly owned by the Sackville family. He was also a County Alderman and Justice of the Peace of Sussex. He served in the

First World War 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 ...

but relinquished his commission as a temporary major in The Southdown Battalion of the

Royal Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foo ...

in November 1914. He later fought in the war as a 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 ...

and died at

Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

while on active service on 16 December 1915.

Family

Lord De La Warr married firstly Lady Muriel Agnes Brassey, daughter of

Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey (11 February 1836 – 23 February 1918), was a British Liberal Party politician, governor of the Colony of Victoria and founder of '' The Naval Annual''. Background and education Brassey was the eldest son of ...

, and Anna Allnutt, in 1890, spending their honeymoon at

Norris Castle Norris Castle is located on the Isle of Wight. It was designed by James Wyatt for Lord Henry Seymour. The estate adjoins Osborne House, country home to Queen Victoria. On the other side of Norris Castle sits the Spring Hill estate, bought by ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

. They had one son, Herbrand Edward Dundonald Brassey Sackville, and two daughters,

Lady Idina Sackville Lady Myra Idina Sackville-West (26 February 1893 – 5 November 1955) was an English Aristocracy (class), aristocrat and member of the Happy Valley set. Divorced five times, Lady Idina's behaviour and lifestyle scandalised upper-class Edwardian ...

and Lady Avice Ela Muriel Sackville, wife of Sir Stewart Menzies. Lord and Lady De La Warr were divorced in 1902. Lady De La Warr died in August 1903. Lord De La Warr married secondly Hilda Mary Clavering Tredcroft, daughter of Colonel Charles Lennox Tredcroft, in 1903. There were no children from this marriage. He died at sea in December 1915 from pneumonia, aged 46, while on active service in the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...

in the

. His only son

Herbrand Herbrand is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Freddy Herbrand (born 1944), Belgian decathlete * Jacques Herbrand (1908–1931), French mathematician * Markus Herbrand Markus Herbrand (born 24 February 1971) is a German poli ...

succeeded in the title. In 1916, Gilbert Sackville was cited posthumously in a divorce case in which Charles Skarratt, then assistant manager of the

Alhambra Theatre The Alhambra Theatre was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built as the Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts, opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two yea ...

, sued his American wife Mabel Loeb for divorce on the grounds of her adultery with the Earl between 1913 and 1915. The case was proven. The lady had been visiting the Earl so often at his rooms in Belgrave Mansions that eventually he had been asked to leave. The second Lady De la Warr married secondly

John William Dennis John William Dennis (16 May 1865 – 4 August 1949) was a British politician. He was Mayor of Westminster in 1907–08, when he was described as Liberal Unionist. He was a Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) from 1918 to 1922 for the ...

, MP for Birmingham Deritend, in 1922. She died in 1963.

Pearl fishing mis-adventure

In 1892 a ship named ''Sunbeam'', owned by Viscount Cantelupe, was on a pearl fishing expedition on the northwest coast of Australia. The ship was lost and the legend is that the Aboriginal people called upon serpent spirits to sink the vessel. This was in revenge after the crew, who had been allowed to "borrow" some Aboriginal women, failed to return them at the agreed time. The story caused some confusion in the newspapers at the time because the Viscount's father-in-law,

Thomas Brassey Thomas Brassey (7 November 18058 December 1870) was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about o ...

, was the owner of the famous steam yacht ''Sunbeam RYS'' and it was incorrectly assumed that this was the ship that sunk.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De La Warr, Gilbert Sackville, 8th Earl 1869 births 1915 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School 8 3 Deputy lieutenants of Sussex English cricketers English cricketers of 1890 to 1918 English justices of the peace British military personnel killed in World War I Earl De La Warr's XI cricketers Gilbert Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I Royal Sussex Regiment officers Deaths from pneumonia in Turkey People who died at sea