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 ...

Henry Elliott Chevallier Kitchener, 2nd Earl Kitchener (5 October 1846 – 27 March 1937) was a British soldier and peer.

Early life and career

He was the eldest of five children born to Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Horatio Kitchener (1805–1894) and his first wife Anne Frances Chevallier (1826–1864). Among his siblings was the military commander

Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (; 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. Kitchener came to prominence for his imperial campaigns, his involvement in the Second Boer War, a ...

. He spent his early life in

Tralee Tralee ( ; , ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the River Lee') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in ...

in Ireland, where he and his siblings received their education from governesses and tutors. Kitchener joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

in 1866 and was commissioned into the

46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot The 46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1741. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 32nd (Cornwall) Regiment of Foot to form the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry in 1881, b ...

, before joining the newly created

Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) was a Light infantry, light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1959. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, by the merger of the 32nd ( ...

when it was founded in 1881. During the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

of 1870–71, he served alongside his brother in France. He served as garrison instructor at the

Curragh Camp The Curragh Camp () is an army base and military college in The Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. It is the main training centre for the Irish Defence Forces and is home to 2,000 military personnel. History Longstanding military heritage Th ...

in Ireland from July 1876 until July 1878 and was appointed the instructor in military

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

at the Royal Military College in 1879, a post he held until August 1886. He saw his first action in Burma with the British Army, where he was chief transport officer of the Field Force's during the

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

Expedition in 1891. He was posted to Jamaica in December 1898, where he was appointed deputy assistant adjutant general for the British colony before receiving his final posting in the army when he was appointed commander of the

Depot Depot may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Glacier (disambiguation) * Depot Island (disambiguation) * Depot Nunatak * Depot Peak Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in Chicago, United States * Of ...

for the

West India Regiment The West India Regiments (WIR) were infantry units of the British Army recruited from and normally stationed in the British colonies of the Caribbean between 1795 and 1927. In 1888 the two West India Regiments then in existence were reduced t ...

. He retired from the army in 1903 with the rank of

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 ...

Post-retirement

After retiring he remained in Jamaica where he was a property owner. He became involved in local politics and contested the St Andrew Parish in the legislative council elections but was not elected. With the outbreak of 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 ...

, he was recalled to the army and was posted to take up a command post in

South West Africa South West Africa was a territory under Union of South Africa, South African administration from 1915 to 1990. Renamed ''Namibia'' by the United Nations in 1968, Independence of Namibia, it became independent under this name on 21 March 1990. ...

; he was also put in command of a British Expeditionary Force sent to fight the Germans in East Africa. In accordance with a special remainder in the

letters patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

, he succeeded his younger brother as second

Earl Kitchener Earl Kitchener, of Khartoum and of Broome in the County of Kent, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1914 for the famous officer Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener, 1st Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum. He had alread ...

on 5 June 1916. He left Jamaica to return to Britain in 1918. After the war he moved to Kenya where he was active in encouraging the settlement of war veterans in the British colony; he also developed a number of

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...

-producing estates there. Kitchener was married in 1877 to Eleanor Fanny Lushington (died 1897), with whom he had a son and a daughter: *Henry Franklin Chevallier Kitchener, Viscount Broome (17 Oct 1878 – 13 Jun 1928), commanded British naval forces at the

Battle of Imbros The Battle of Imbros was a naval action that took place during the First World War. The battle occurred on 20 January 1918 when an Ottoman squadron engaged a flotilla of the British Royal Navy off the island of Imbros in the Aegean Sea. A l ...

during the First World War *Lady Nora Fanny Kitchener (1882 – 10 May 1919) His son and heir Henry Franklin Kitchener, Viscount Broome (1878–1928) predeceased him, so on his own death in 1937 in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

, Kenya, his titles passed to his grandson Henry Herbert Kitchener. His great-granddaughter Emma Joy Kitchener (born 1962) is the wife of actor Julian Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford, and is a

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...

Princess Michael of Kent Princess Michael of Kent (born Baroness Marie-Christine Anna Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz, 15 January 1945) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to Prince Michael of Kent, who is a grandson of George V, King George V. Prince ...

References

Book cited

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kitchener, Henry Kitchener, 2nd Earl 1846 births 1937 deaths Earls Kitchener British Army colonels 46th Regiment of Foot officers Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry officers Military personnel from County Kerry People of the Franco-Prussian War British Army personnel of World War I Immigrants to the British West Indies British emigrants to British Kenya 19th-century British Army personnel