Sir Ralph William Frankland Payne-Gallwey, 3rd Baronet (1848–1916) was an English

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

ballistics Ballistics is the field of mechanics concerned with the launching, flight behaviour and impact effects of projectiles, especially weapon munitions such as bullets, unguided bombs, rockets and the like; the science or art of designing and acceler ...

expert, and

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

Life

The son of Sir William Payne-Gallwey, 2nd Baronet, and his wife Emily Anne, a daughter of Sir Robert Frankland-Russell, 7th Baronet, the young Payne-Gallwey 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 ...

. In 1881, he inherited from his father the Thirkleby Hall estate in the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire was a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point was at Mickle Fell at . From the Restoration it was used as a lieutenancy area, having b ...

.John Robinson, ''Felling the Ancient Oaks'' (Aurum Press, 2011, ), He married Edith Alice Usborne. Their son William Payne-Gallwey was a soldier and first-class cricketer who was killed in action during 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 ...

. As a result of that, Payne-Gallwey decided to sell his Yorkshire estate.

Works

Payne-Gallwey began by writing books on sport. Early works included ''The Book of Duck Decoys'' (1886) and ''Letters to Young Shooters'' (1892). His ''The Crossbow'' appeared in 1903, and his ''High Pheasants in Theory and Practice'' in 1913. In later life, he also turned to history and current affairs, with ''The Mystery of Maria Stella, Lady Newborough'' (1907), ''A History of the George Worn on the Scaffold by Charles I'' (1908) and ''The War, A Criticism'' (June, 1915). This was an appeal for

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

to be brought in, to greatly increase the size of the British Army. The also compiled an unpublished manuscript on archery, including tables of flight distances, illustrations and photographs of bows, and information on Turkish and Chinese archery.

Publications

* ''The Crossbow, Mediaeval and Modern, Military and Sporting; its Construction, History and Management, with a Treatise on the Balista and Catapult of the Ancients'' (London: Longmand Green & Co., 1903; reprinted by Holland of London, 1958; new edition by

Skyhorse Publishing Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. is an American independent book publishing company founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York City, with a satellite office in Brattleboro, Vermont. History The current president and publisher is founder Tony Ly ...

, 2007) * ''The Fowler in Ireland, or Notes on the Haunts and Habits of Wildfowl and Seafowl: Including Instructions in the Art of Shooting and Capturing Them'' * ''The Book of Duck Decoys: Their Construction, Management, and History'' (London: John van Voorst, 1886) * ''Letters to Young Shooters'' (1892) * ''The Mystery of Maria Stella, Lady Newborough'' (London: Edward Arnold, 1907) * ''A History of the George Worn on the Scaffold by Charles I'' (London: Edward Arnold, 1908) * ''High Pheasants in Theory and Practice'' (London and New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1913) * ''The War, A Criticism'' (London: Spottiswoode & Co., 1915)

Notes

External links

* * (full text)
''The War: a criticism'', 1915
(full text) 3 Writers from Yorkshire People educated at Eton College Rifle Brigade officers Gordon Highlanders officers People from North Yorkshire 1848 births 1916 deaths {{UK-historian-stub