Guy Victor Baring (26 February 1873 – 15 September 1916) was a British

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

officer and politician. He became a

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

member of the British

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the 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 parliament. T ...

but was one of 22 Members killed in action in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Background

Baring was a member of the Baring family of

Barings Bank Barings Bank was a British merchant bank based in London, and one of England's oldest merchant banks after Berenberg Bank, Barings' close collaborator and German representative. It was founded in 1762 by Francis Baring, a British-born member ...

, a younger son of

Alexander Baring, 4th Baron Ashburton Alexander Hugh Baring, 4th Baron Ashburton, (4 May 1835 – 18 July 1889) was a British landowner and Conservative Party politician. Early life Baring was the son of Francis Baring, 3rd Baron Ashburton (1800–1868), and his wife Hortense Euge ...

(1835–1889), and his wife Leonora Caroline Digby. He was educated at Eton and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

, and was commissioned into the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

in 1893. In 1899 Baring's unit was sent to fight in the South African War, and he was present at the battles of Belmont, Graspan,

Modder River The Modder River is a river in South Africa. It is a tributary of the Riet River that forms part of the border between the Northern Cape and the Free State provinces. The river's banks were the scenes of heavy fighting in the beginning of the ...

, Magersfontein, and Driefontein, as well as the occupation of

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape To ...

. During the fighting in South Africa he was mentioned in despatches, and received the

Queen's South Africa Medal The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Altogether twenty-six clasps wer ...

with three clasps. Baring was the commander of a detachment of the Coldstream Guards in 1900 which went with the Australia and New Zealand Imperial Representative Corps to the inauguration of The Earl of Hopetoun as Governor-General of Australia. He was promoted to Captain in March 1901, attached to the

King's African Rifles The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a multi-battalion British colonial regiment raised from Britain's various possessions in East Africa from 1902 until independence in the 1960s. It performed both military and internal security functions within ...

and was a special service officer with the Jubaland Expedition in 1901 against the Ogaden Somalis and was awarded a medal with clasp. In February 1902 he was gazetted as a Captain in the Coldstream Guards vice John Ponsonby, who had been seconded to serve in South Africa.

Career

He was elected as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Winchester in the 1906 general election, and was re-elected in the January and December 1910 elections with increased majorities. Although he had formally left the Coldstream Guards in 1913, he rejoined immediately on the outbreak of war in 1914. He was posted to

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

where he commanded a training company, until July 1915 when he was posted to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. He served as second-in-command of the 4th (Pioneer) Battalion; and after the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. Th ...

he commanded the first Battalion of the

Death

Guy Victor Baring memorial at Winchester Cathedral (cropped from geograph

During the Battle of the Somme on the morning of 15 September 1916, Baring's Battalion was advancing along the

Ginchy Ginchy () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Ginchy is situated on the D20 road, some northeast of Amiens. The graphic below shows the community in relation to nearby places. ...

-Lesboeufs road to attack German positions, together with two others. It was the first time in history that three Coldstream Guard battalions attacked together, but despite advancing "as steadily as though they were walking down the Mall" the action took a heavy toll. 17 officers and 690 other ranks went into battle, but only three officers survived (one injured) and 221 other ranks. Baring was buried in Citadel New Military Cemetery near Fricourt. Baring is commemorated on Panel 8 of the

Parliamentary War Memorial The Parliamentary War Memorial, also known as the Recording Angel Memorial, is a stone sculpture in Westminster Hall, unveiled in 1922, which commemorates the members of both Houses of Parliament of the United Kingdom who died in the First Wor ...

in Westminster Hall, one of 22 MPs who died during World War I to be named on that memorial. He is also one of 19 MPs who fell in the war who are commemorated by heraldic shields in the Commons Chamber. A further act of commemoration came with the unveiling in 1932 of a manuscript-style

illuminated Illuminated may refer to: * "Illuminated" (song), by Hurts * Illuminated Film Company, a British animation house * ''Illuminated'', alternative title of Black Sheep (Nat & Alex Wolff album) * Illuminated manuscript See also * Illuminate (disambi ...

book of remembrance for the House of Commons, which includes a short biographical account of the life and death of Baring.

Family

Baring married on 16 July 1903 Olive Alethea Smith, daughter of

Hugh Colin Smith Hugh Colin Smith (31 October 1836 – 8 March 1910) was an English banker who was Governor of the Bank of England from 1897–99. Early life Smith was born in London, the son of John Abel Smith (1802–1871), Member of Parliament for Chichester ...

and Constance Maria Josepha Adeane, and they had six children, including the cricketer Giles Baring. Their great grandchildren include the actress

Rachel Ward Rachel Claire Ward (born 12 September 1957) is an English-Australian

and the actress and environmentalist Tracy Worcester.

References

*''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage'', 106th edition (1999), volume 1, page 120 *Edward Whitaker Moss-Blundell, "The House of Commons Book of Remembrance 1914-1918" (Elkin Mathews & Marrot, 1931)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baring, Guy 1873 births 1916 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 Coldstream Guards officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme King's African Rifles officers Younger sons of barons Guy Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst People educated at Eton College