Compton Edward Domvile
Encyclopedia
Admiral Sir Compton Edward Domvile GCB
GCVO
(1842–1924) was a distinguished Royal Navy
officer in the Edwardian era.
(1878–1971), Archibald Compton Winnington Domvile (b 1884), Georgiana Isabella Francis Domvile (b 1888) and May Louise Domvile (b 1893). Their second child went on to become Admiral
Sir Barry Edward Domvile
KBE
CB
CMG
(1878–1971), and after a distinguished career in the Royal Navy, became a leading British
fascist.
on 28 October 1862. He commanded the steam-gunboat HMS Algerine from 16 April 1866 and was promoted to commander on 2 September 1868 for service against piracy.
HMS Dryad
from commissioning at Devonport
. Dryad served on the North America and West Indies Station until December 1877. Domvile was promoted to captain
on 27 March 1876, whilst serving in Dryad. Commander John Edward Stokes replaced him as Dryads captain some time in 1877.
HMS Dido
, replacing Captain Arthur Richard Wright who had died on 19 August 1879. Dido served on the west coast of Africa
, including service in the first Boer War (1880 - 1881)
. After the Battle of Laing's Nek
, Dido contributed 50 men and two field guns to a Naval Brigade
, which went to the front under Lieutenant Henry Ogle. This brigade shared in the disaster at the Battle of Majuba Hill
on 27 February, where Dido lost 3 killed and 3 wounded. Captain Domvile took charge of the Naval Brigade, but no further action took place before a peace was concluded.
In October 1881, Dido crossed the Atlantic and joined the North America and West Indies squadron, with Domvile serving as an acting
commodore
in Jamaica
in 1882. She was paid off at Barbados
on 16 February 1883.
in the Mediterranean, and from there he went to become the captain of the stone frigate
(shore establishment) HMS Excellent, the gunnery school at Portsmouth
.
In 1888, Domvile became naval aide-de-camp
to Queen Victoria, and served on the Ordnance Committee from 1890 to 1891. On 4 January 1891 he was promoted to rear-admiral and was appointed Director of Naval Ordnance from 1891 to 1894. He went to the Mediterranean as second-in-command of the Mediterranean Fleet
from 1894 to 1896, and on promotion to vice-admiral on 23 February 1897, he was appointed Superintendent of Naval Reserves. In 1898 he was appointed as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.
On 25 January 1902 he was promoted to admiral
, replacing Jackie Fisher as commander-in-chief
of the Mediterranean Fleet, then Britain's largest fleet. He served there until 1905.
In 1903 he was appointed a Knight of the Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
, and in 1904 the Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
. He was also appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Saviour of Greece, and 1st Class in Brilliants of the Medijie
.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
GCVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
(1842–1924) was a distinguished Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
officer in the Edwardian era.
Birth
Compton Domvile was born on 10 October 1842 to Henry Barry Domvile (1813–1843) and Frances Domvile (née Winnington-Ingram) (d 1884). He was educated at the Royal Academy, Gosport.Family
He married Isabella Peel, the daughter of Captain Edmund Yates Peel, on 3 November 1876. They had five children: Adelaide Mary Domvile (b 1877, died unmarried), Barry Edward DomvileBarry Domvile
Admiral Sir Barry Edward Domvile KBE CB CMG was a distinguished Royal Navy officer who turned into a leading British Pro-German anti-Semite in the years before the Second World War....
(1878–1971), Archibald Compton Winnington Domvile (b 1884), Georgiana Isabella Francis Domvile (b 1888) and May Louise Domvile (b 1893). Their second child went on to become Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
Sir Barry Edward Domvile
Barry Domvile
Admiral Sir Barry Edward Domvile KBE CB CMG was a distinguished Royal Navy officer who turned into a leading British Pro-German anti-Semite in the years before the Second World War....
KBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
CMG
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
(1878–1971), and after a distinguished career in the Royal Navy, became a leading British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
fascist.
Early career
Compton Domvile joined the Royal Navy in 1856. He served in the Royal Yacht and was promoted to lieutenantLieutenant (naval)
LieutenantThe pronunciation of lieutenant is generally split between or , generally in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Commonwealth countries, and or , generally associated with the United States. See lieutenant. is a commissioned officer rank in many nations' navies...
on 28 October 1862. He commanded the steam-gunboat HMS Algerine from 16 April 1866 and was promoted to commander on 2 September 1868 for service against piracy.
HMS Dryad
On 3 August 1874 he became captain of the screw sloopScrew sloop
A screw sloop is a propeller-driven sloop-of-war. In the 19th century, during the introduction of the steam engine, ships driven by propellers were differentiated from those driven by paddle-wheels by referring to the ship's screws...
HMS Dryad
HMS Dryad (1866)
HMS Dryad was a 4-gun Amazon-class screw sloop, launched at Devonport in 1866. She served on the East Indies and North American Stations, taking part in the Abyssinian War, a confrontation with the French at Tamatave and theEgyptian War...
from commissioning at Devonport
HMNB Devonport
Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
. Dryad served on the North America and West Indies Station until December 1877. Domvile was promoted to captain
Captain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
on 27 March 1876, whilst serving in Dryad. Commander John Edward Stokes replaced him as Dryads captain some time in 1877.
HMS Dido
He became captain of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich until 19 September 1879, followed by a return to sea as captain of the steam corvetteCorvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
HMS Dido
HMS Dido (1869)
HMS Dido was an Eclipse-class wooden screw sloop built for the Royal Navy in 1869. She was the fourth ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. She was reclassified in 1876 as a corvette, and in 1906 renamed Actaeon II...
, replacing Captain Arthur Richard Wright who had died on 19 August 1879. Dido served on the west coast of Africa
West Africa Squadron
The Royal Navy established the West Africa Squadron at substantial expense in 1808 after Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act of 1807. The squadron's task was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa...
, including service in the first Boer War (1880 - 1881)
First Boer War
The First Boer War also known as the First Anglo-Boer War or the Transvaal War, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881-1877 annexation:...
. After the Battle of Laing's Nek
Battle of Laing's Nek
The Battle of Laing's Nek was a major battle fought at Laing's Nek during the First Boer War on 28 January 1881.-Background:Following the Boer declaration of independence for the Transvaal in 1880 the British suffered a series of disastrous defeats in attempting to regain the territory.On 20...
, Dido contributed 50 men and two field guns to a Naval Brigade
Naval Brigade
A Naval Brigade is a body of sailors serving in a ground combat role to augment land forces.-Royal Navy:Within the Royal Navy, a Naval Brigade is a large temporary detachment of Royal Marines and of seamen from the Royal Navy formed to undertake operations on shore, particularly during the mid- to...
, which went to the front under Lieutenant Henry Ogle. This brigade shared in the disaster at the Battle of Majuba Hill
Battle of Majuba Hill
The Battle of Majuba Hill on 27 February 1881 was the main battle of the First Boer War. It was a resounding victory for the Boers. Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley occupied the summit of the hill on the night of February 26–27, 1881. His motive for occupying the hill remains unclear...
on 27 February, where Dido lost 3 killed and 3 wounded. Captain Domvile took charge of the Naval Brigade, but no further action took place before a peace was concluded.
In October 1881, Dido crossed the Atlantic and joined the North America and West Indies squadron, with Domvile serving as an acting
Acting (rank)
An Acting rank, is a military designation allowing an commissioned- or non-commissioned officer to assume a rank—usually higher and usually temporary—with the pay and allowances appropriate to that grade. As such, an officer may be ordered back to the previous grade...
commodore
Commodore (Royal Navy)
Commodore is a rank of the Royal Navy above Captain and below Rear Admiral. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-6. The rank is equivalent to Brigadier in the British Army and Royal Marines and to Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force.-Insignia:...
in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
in 1882. She was paid off at Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
on 16 February 1883.
Later career
From 1884 to 1886 Domville was the captain of HMS TemeraireHMS Temeraire (1876)
HMS Temeraire was an ironclad battleship of the Victorian Royal Navy which was unique in that she carried her main armament partly in the traditional broadside battery, and partly in barbettes on the upper deck.-Design and construction:...
in the Mediterranean, and from there he went to become the captain of the stone frigate
Stone frigate
Stone frigate is a nickname for a naval establishment on land. The term has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy after its use of Diamond Rock, off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the French...
(shore establishment) HMS Excellent, the gunnery school at Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
.
In 1888, Domvile became naval aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to Queen Victoria, and served on the Ordnance Committee from 1890 to 1891. On 4 January 1891 he was promoted to rear-admiral and was appointed Director of Naval Ordnance from 1891 to 1894. He went to the Mediterranean as second-in-command of the Mediterranean Fleet
Mediterranean Fleet
Several countries have or have had a Mediterranean Fleet in their navy. See:* Mediterranean Fleet * French Mediterranean Fleet* Mediterranean Squadron * United States Sixth Fleet...
from 1894 to 1896, and on promotion to vice-admiral on 23 February 1897, he was appointed Superintendent of Naval Reserves. In 1898 he was appointed as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
, replacing Jackie Fisher as commander-in-chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
of the Mediterranean Fleet, then Britain's largest fleet. He served there until 1905.
In 1903 he was appointed a Knight of the Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
, and in 1904 the Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
. He was also appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Saviour of Greece, and 1st Class in Brilliants of the Medijie
Medjidie
Medjidie or Mejidie is the name of a military and knightly order of the Ottoman Empire. The Order was instituted in 1851 by Sultan Abdülmecid I.-Order of the Medjidie:...
.