Assheton Curzon-Howe

Admiral The Honourable Sir Assheton Gore Curzon-Howe, KCB, CMG, CVO (10 August 1850 – 1 March 1911) was a British naval officer who served as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet from 1908 to 1910.

Sir Assheton Curzon-Howe
Born10 August 1850
Died1 March 1911 (1911-04) (aged 60)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of servicec.1865–1911
RankAdmiral
Commands heldAtlantic Fleet
Mediterranean Fleet
Portsmouth Command
AwardsOrder of the Bath
Royal Victorian Order
Order of St Michael and St George
Spouse(s)
Alice Anne Cowell
​
(m. 1892)​
RelationsRichard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe (father)

Early life

Curzon-Howe was the thirteenth and youngest child of Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe, and Anne (d. 1877), who was Lord Howe's second wife (Assheton was the youngest of her three children),[1] daughter of Vice-Admiral Sir John Gore.[2] His paternal great-grandfather was Admiral Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe.

Career

In 1894 Curzon-Howe flew his flag as Commodore on the corvette HMS Cleopatra on the North America and West Indies Station.[3][4] By January 1900 he had been promoted captain, and was appointed in command of the battleship HMS Ocean when she was commissioned 20 February 1900 for service on the Mediterranean Station.[5] She transferred to the China Station in January 1901, in response to the Boxer Rebellion.

Curzon-Howe was appointed a Naval Aide de Camp (ADC) to Queen Victoria in July 1899,[6] and was re-appointed as a Naval Aide de Camp to her successor King Edward VII in February 1901.[7] He was promoted to flag rank as rear admiral in July 1901,[8] which ended the appointment as Naval ADC.

On 5 June 1902 he was appointed second-in-command of the Channel Squadron,[9] and temporarily hoisted his flag on board HMS Cambridge, gunnery ship at Devonport,[10] before he transferred to the battleship HMS Magnificent later the same month.[11] Shortly before his departure from London he was received in audience by King Edward VII.[12] With Magnificent, he took part in the fleet review held at Spithead on 16 August 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII,[13] and visited the Aegean Sea for combined manoeuvres with the Mediterranean Fleet the following month.[14] Later the same year he was appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the November 1902 Birthday Honours list,[15] and was invested with the insignia by King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace on 18 December 1902.[16]

He was flying his flag in HMS Caesar (Captain Sydney Fremantle) in 1906.[17] In 1907, he was Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet.[18] Curzon-Howe the served as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet from 1908 to 1910.[19] He was promoted to Admiral in 1909. He was Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth from 1 May 1910 until his death, age 60, on 1 March 1911. During this time he flew his flag in HMS Victory.[20]

Family

On 25 February 1892, at the age of 41, Assheton married Alice Anne Cowell, daughter of General Rt. Hon. Sir John Cowell. They had five children:

  • Captain Leicester Charles Assheton St. John Curzon-Howe (8 July 1894 – 21 February 1941), the father of Anne Rita Curzon-Howe, who married Captain Christopher Roper-Curzon, 19th Baron Teynham.[21]
  • Victoria Alexandrina Alice Curzon-Howe (1 September 1896 – 3 February 1910)
  • Assheton Penn Curzon-Howe-Herrick (21 August 1898 – 23 February 1959)
  • Joyce Mary Curzon-Howe (16 July 1906 – 24 September 1997)
  • Elizabeth Anne Curzon-Howe (15 November 1909-?)

His wife Alice died on 5 November 1948.[22]

Assheton's elder sister, Lady Maria Anna Curzon (1848–1929), was the great-great-grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales.[23]

Footnotes
  1. Lundy, Darryl. "The Peerage.Com". The Peerage.
  2. Lundy, Darryl. "The Peerage.com". The Peerage.
  3. Royal Navy - Ships in Service in 1894 This consists of the names of officers listed in Whitaker's Alamanac for 1894 as serving in ships in commission & in reserve in various parts of the world.
  4. A Guide to the Archival Holdings of The Centre for Newfoundland Studies Memorial University Library. Archived 30 October 2005 at the Wayback Machine The Centre for Newfoundland Studies has "an autograph letter on HMS Cleopatra letterhead, dated 21 August 1894, signed Assheton G. Curzon-Howe, Commodore of the Cleopatra, concerning employees of Munn Brothers and others from Conception Bay encountered on his trip to Labrador. Envelope and small Christmas card included."
  5. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36071. London. 21 February 1900. p. 10.
  6. "No. 27096". The London Gazette. 7 July 1899. p. 4213.
  7. "No. 27289". The London Gazette. 26 February 1901. p. 1417.
  8. "No. 27344". The London Gazette. 9 August 1901. p. 5258.
  9. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36784. London. 3 June 1902. p. 10.
  10. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36787. London. 6 June 1902. p. 11.
  11. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36799. London. 20 June 1902. p. 10.
  12. "Court Circular". The Times. No. 36784. London. 3 June 1902. p. 9.
  13. "The Coronation - Naval Review". The Times. No. 36845. London. 13 August 1902. p. 4.
  14. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36880. London. 23 September 1902. p. 8.
  15. "No. 27493". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 November 1902. pp. 7161–7163.
  16. "Court Circular". The Times. No. 36955. London. 19 December 1902. p. 4.
  17. The Royal Navy June 1906 Channel Fleet
  18. Extracts from Late 19th Century and Early 20th Century Newspapers - Appointments of Senior Naval Officers - Taken from "The Queenslander " {Australia} 10 November 1906 {page 13} as transcribed by Bev Edmonds Archived 7 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine
     :"The following changes in naval commands, to take effect early in 1907, have been officially announced... CURZON-HOWE, Vice-Admiral Sir Assheton G., {second in command to the Channel Fleet} to be Commander of the Atlantic Fleet."
  19. Janus: The Papers of Reginald McKenna
  20. HMS Victory
    Lundy, Darryl. "The Peerage.Com". The Peerage.
  21. Charles Mosley, ed., Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, volume 3 (Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), pp. 3880–3881
  22. Lundy, Darryl. "The Peerage.Com". The Peerage.
  23. Wikipedia: Richard William Penn Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe
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