Raymond Asquith
Encyclopedia
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and eldest son and heir of British Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
H. H. Asquith
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916...
by his first wife Helen Kelsall Melland (who died 1891).
Career and honours
Asquith was educated at Winchester CollegeWinchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
and won a scholarship to Balliol
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
in 1896, bringing with him a reputation for brilliance. He won Ireland, Derby, and Craven scholarships, and was distinguished by first-class honours. Elected a fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of All Souls
All Souls College, Oxford
The Warden and the College of the Souls of all Faithful People deceased in the University of Oxford or All Souls College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England....
in 1902, he was called to the bar in 1904. The tall, handsome Asquith was a member of "the Coterie
The Coterie
The Coterie was a fashionable and famous set of English aristocrats and intellectuals of the 1910s, widely quoted and profiled in magazines and newspapers of the period. It adopted the hostile description as a "corrupt coterie"....
," a group of Edwardian socialites and intellectuals.
Asquith was junior counsel
Counsel
A counsel or a counselor gives advice, more particularly in legal matters.-U.K. and Ireland:The legal system in England uses the term counsel as an approximate synonym for a barrister-at-law, and may apply it to mean either a single person who pleads a cause, or collectively, the body of barristers...
in the North Atlantic Fisheries Arbitration and the investigation of the sinking of the Titanic, and was considered a putative Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
candidate for Derby
Derby (UK Parliament constituency)
Derby is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1950. It was represented by two Members of...
. However, his rise was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I. He was initially commissioned, on 17 December 1914, as a second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
in the 16th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment
London Regiment
The London Regiment is a Territorial Army regiment in the British Army. It was first formed in 1908 in order to regiment the various Volunteer Force battalions in the newly formed County of London, each battalion having a distinctive uniform. The Volunteer Force was merged with the Yeomanry in 1908...
. He was transferred to the 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards
Grenadier Guards
The Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...
, on 14 August 1915 and assigned as a staff officer, but he requested to be returned to active duty with his battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
, a request granted before the Battle of the Somme. While leading the first half of 4 Company
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
in an attack near Ginchy
Ginchy
Ginchy is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:Ginchy is situated on the D20 road, some northeast of Amiens.-Population:-External links:*...
on 15 September 1916, at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette
Battle of Flers-Courcelette
The Battle of Flers-Courcelette, was a battle within the Franco-British Somme Offensive which took place in the summer and autumn of 1916. Launched on the 15th of September 1916 the battle went on for one week. Flers-Courcelette began with the overall objective of cutting a hole in the German...
, he was shot in the chest and died while being carried back to British lines. He was buried in Guillemont Road Cemetery, where his headstone is inscribed 'Small time but in that small most greatly lived this star of England', a concluding line from Shakespeare's "Henry V", about a warrior king who had died in his thirties after campaigns in France.
Asquith's death exemplified the end of the Edwardian era in World War I. The writer John Buchan devoted several pages of his autobiography, Memory Hold-the-Door
Memory Hold-the-Door
Memory Hold-the-Door is the 1940 autobiography of John Buchan. It was published in the United States under the title Pilgrim's Way.John Buchan died in February 1940, and Memory Hold-the Door was published posthumously...
, to remembering Raymond Asquith and their friendship in some detail.
Family
Raymond Asquith was married on 25 July 1907 to the former Katharine Frances Horner (1885–1976), younger daughter of Sir John Francis Fortescue Horner, of Mells, SomersetMells, Somerset
Mells is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, near the town of Frome.The parish includes the village of Vobster which had a coal mine of the same name on the Somerset coalfield and quarry, both of which are now disused. The old quarry is now used as a diving centre...
, descended from 'Little Jack Horner
Little Jack Horner
"Little Jack Horner" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has the Roud Folk Song Index number of 13027.-Lyrics:The most common modern lyrics are:Little Jack HornerSat in the corner,Eating a Christmas pie;He put in his thumb,...
' of nursery song fame. Her mother Lady Horner (d. 1940) was the former Frances Jane Graham, elder daughter of William Graham, MP
William Graham, Liberal MP for Glasgow
William Graham , Liberal MP for Glasgow, was a Scottish politician, wine merchant, cotton manufacturer and port shipper. He is remembered as a patron of Pre-Raphaelite artists like Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti and a collector of their works.-Art collector:Graham's father was the...
, a wealthy merchant, passionate art collector, and Liberal MP for Glasgow 1865–1874. She was a notable hostess and patron of the arts, especially the Pre-Raphaelites and John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...
. The Horners had four children – Cicely (b. 1883), Katharine (b. 1885), Mark (who died in his teens), and Edward (b. 1888).
Asquith and his wife had three children:
- Lady Helen Frances Asquith (1908–2000), who died unmarried
- Lady Perdita Rose Mary Asquith (1910–1996) who married the 4th Baron HyltonWilliam Jolliffe, 4th Baron HyltonWilliam George Hervey Jolliffe, 4th Baron Hylton , was a British peer and soldier.Hylton was the son of Hylton Jolliffe, 3rd Baron Hylton, and Lady Alice Adeliza Hervey. He achieved the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Coldstream Guards and also served as Lord Lieutenant of Somerset from 1949 to...
(d 1967) - Julian Edward George Asquith, 2nd Earl of Oxford and AsquithJulian Asquith, 2nd Earl of Oxford and AsquithJulian Edward George Asquith, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Asquith KCMG , was a British colonial administrator.-Background and education:...
(1916–2011), nicknamed Trim, who was born a few months before his father's death in action. The young baby was reputedly named "Trim" for the Roman gourmand TrimalchioTrimalchioTrimalchio is a character in the Roman novel The Satyricon by Petronius. He plays a part only in the section titled Cena Trimalchionis . Trimalchio is a freedman who through hard work and perseverance has attained power and wealth...
, after his father saw his newborn son for the first time upon his initial return from war.
Raymond Asquith died nearly a decade before his father was raised to the House of Lords in 1925 as Earl of Oxford and Asquith
Earl of Oxford and Asquith
Earl of Oxford and Asquith is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1925 for the Liberal politician H. H. Asquith. He was Home Secretary from 1892 to 1895, Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1905 to 1908, Leader of the Liberal Party from 1908 to 1926 and Prime Minister of...
. Katharine inherited Mells when her younger but only surviving brother Edward Horner (1888–1917) also died in the war. He was buried in France, but his memorial at Mells was designed by his mother's friend Edwin Lutyens
Edwin Lutyens
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, OM, KCIE, PRA, FRIBA was a British architect who is known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era...
, who was a patron of Monsignor Ronald Knox
Ronald Knox
Ronald Arbuthnott Knox was an English priest, theologian and writer.-Life:Ronald Knox was born in Kibworth, Leicestershire, England into an Anglican family and was educated at Eton College, where he took the first scholarship in 1900 and Balliol College, Oxford, where again...
. She converted to Roman Catholicism as a widow, and became a friend of Siegfried Sassoon
Siegfried Sassoon
Siegfried Loraine Sassoon CBE MC was an English poet, author and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both described the horrors of the trenches, and satirised the patriotic pretensions of those who, in Sassoon's...
who also converted to Catholicism following her example. She also remained in touch with Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
, another convert. All her three children were raised Roman Catholic.
Sources
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. K. D. Reynolds, ‘Horner , Frances Jane, Lady Horner (1854/5–1940)’, first published September 2004, 580 words, with portrait illustration. Oxford DNB: Frances Horner (citation only), full article available via subscription only.
External links
- Photographs of Raymond Asquith and his wife at the NPG taken by Lady Ottoline MorrellLady Ottoline MorrellThe Lady Ottoline Violet Anne Morrell was an English aristocrat and society hostess. Her patronage was influential in artistic and intellectual circles, where she befriended writers such as Aldous Huxley, Siegfried Sassoon, T. S. Eliot and D. H...
. - A fuller profile of Raymond Asquith including text of his Times obituary.
- Mells, Somerset