Robert James Loyd-Lindsay, 1st Baron Wantage
Encyclopedia
Brigadier-General Robert James Loyd-Lindsay, 1st Baron Wantage, VC
KCB (17 April 1832 – 10 June 1901) was of Scottish
descent; soldier, politician, benefactor to Wantage
, one of the founders of the British National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War latterly called the British Red Cross Society
, for which he crucially obtained the patronage of Queen Victoria, and a distinguished philanthropist and luminary of Victorian society.
). In 1858, he married The Honorable Harriet Sarah Jones-Loyd, the only surviving child and heiress of Samuel Jones-Loyd, 1st and last Baron Overstone
, one of the richest men in the country, who endowed the couple with a considerable fortune and the Lockinge
estate near Wantage.
during the Crimean War
. He was awarded the Victoria Cross
for his actions on 20 September 1854 at the Battle of the Alma and 5 November at the Battle of Inkerman
. The London Gazette
described his actions as follows:
On 9 November 1858 Lindsay was appointed as Equerry
to HRH The Prince of Wales
and served as such before resigning on 7 February 1859. The brief period as Equerry was due to his engagement and impending marriage to The Honorable Harriet Sarah Jones Loyd.
Lindsay was later involved in the volunteer movement
, serving as Colonel of the Royal Berkshire Volunteers, and subsequently Brigadier-General of the Home Counties Brigade. He was one of the first recipients of the Volunteer Officers' Decoration. He was also Lieutenant Colonel of the Honourable Artillery Company
from 13 November 1866 to 17 August 1881.
Member of Parliament
for Berkshire
from 1865 until 1885 and served under Lord Beaconsfield as Financial Secretary to the War Office
between 1877 and 1880. In 1885 he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Wantage, of Lockinge in the County of Berkshire. He then served as Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire
from 1886 until his death. Having been initiated as a freemason, passed and raised in Malta en route to the Crimea in 1854, he became Provincial Grand Master of Berkshire from 1898 until his death in 1901. He was appointed the first Chairman of the Council of the National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom
on 25 November 1890.
in Berkshire
(now Oxfordshire
). He died on 10 June 1901, aged 69. On his death, Florence Nightingale
, a close personal friend since the Crimea wrote:
Lord Wantage is a great loss but he had been a great gain. And what he has gained for us can never be lost. It is my experience that such men exist only in England. A man who had everything (to use the common phrase) that this world could give him, but who worked as hard, and to the last, as the poorest able man and all for others for the common good. A man whose life makes a great difference for all. All are better than if he had not lived, and this betterment is for always it does not die with him. That is the true estimate of a great life. God bless him and we will bless him. And we will bless God for having made him.
Lady Wantage erected a monument to Lord Wantage on the Ridgeway
. There are various inscriptions on the faces of the monument with the one on the North East side, being in Latin and is similar to that inscribed on the Iona Cross on Gibbet Hill, Hindhead
, Surrey, namely:
Which translates according to the National Trust as “Peace in passing away. Salvation after death. Light after darkness. Hope in light."
As he had no children the title died with him. In 1908 Lady Wantage officially opened Wantage Hall
, the first Hall of Residence in the University of Reading, in honour of Lord Wantage. She died in August 1920.
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
KCB (17 April 1832 – 10 June 1901) was of Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
descent; soldier, politician, benefactor to Wantage
Wantage
Wantage is a market town and civil parish in the Vale of the White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. The town is on Letcombe Brook, about south-west of Abingdon and a similar distance west of Didcot....
, one of the founders of the British National Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War latterly called the British Red Cross Society
British Red Cross
The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom branch of the worldwide impartial humanitarian organisation the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with over 31,000 volunteers and 2,600 staff. At the heart of their work...
, for which he crucially obtained the patronage of Queen Victoria, and a distinguished philanthropist and luminary of Victorian society.
Background
Lindsay was born in 1832, the second son of Lieutenant-General Sir James Lindsay, 1st Baronet and Anne, daughter of Sir Coutts Trotter, 1st Baronet. His elder brother Coutts Lindsay succeeded his maternal grandfather as second Baronet in 1837 (see Lindsay BaronetsLindsay Baronets
There have been three Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Lindsay, one in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia and two in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. One creation is extant as of 2010....
). In 1858, he married The Honorable Harriet Sarah Jones-Loyd, the only surviving child and heiress of Samuel Jones-Loyd, 1st and last Baron Overstone
Samuel Jones-Loyd, 1st Baron Overstone
Samuel Jones-Loyd, 1st Baron Overstone was a British banker and politician.-Background and education:Loyd was the only son of Reverend Lewis Loyd and Sarah, daughter of John Jones, a Manchester banker...
, one of the richest men in the country, who endowed the couple with a considerable fortune and the Lockinge
East Lockinge
East Lockinge is a village in Lockinge civil parish, about east of Wantage. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 local authority boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire.-Manor:...
estate near Wantage.
Military service
Lindsay fought as a captain in the Scots (Fusilier) GuardsScots Guards (1805)
-The Napoleonic Wars:In 1804, the United Kingdom's nemesis, Napoleon Bonaparte , became Emperor of the French. The following year the Third Coalition was formed against France and the 1st Battalion took part in the expedition to Hannover in 1805 at a time when Napoleon's armies burnt across the...
during the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
. He was awarded the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
for his actions on 20 September 1854 at the Battle of the Alma and 5 November at the Battle of Inkerman
Battle of Inkerman
The Battle of Inkerman was fought during the Crimean War on November 5, 1854 between the allied armies of Britain and France against the Imperial Russian Army. The battle broke the will of the Russian Army to defeat the allies in the field, and was followed by the Siege of Sevastopol...
. The London Gazette
London Gazette
The London Gazette is one of the official journals of record of the British government, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are required to be published...
described his actions as follows:
When the formation of the line of the Regiment was disordered at Alma, Captain Lindsay stood firm with the Colours, and by his example and energy, greatly tended to restore order. At Inkerman, at a most trying moment, he, with a few men, charged a party of Russians, driving them back, and running one through the body himself.
—London Gazette
London GazetteThe London Gazette is one of the official journals of record of the British government, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are required to be published...
On 9 November 1858 Lindsay was appointed as Equerry
Equerry
An equerry , and related to the French word "écuyer" ) is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually upon a Sovereign, a member of a Royal Family, or a national...
to HRH The Prince of Wales
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
and served as such before resigning on 7 February 1859. The brief period as Equerry was due to his engagement and impending marriage to The Honorable Harriet Sarah Jones Loyd.
Lindsay was later involved in the volunteer movement
Volunteer Force (Great Britain)
The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated with the British Army after the Childers Reforms in 1881, before forming part of the...
, serving as Colonel of the Royal Berkshire Volunteers, and subsequently Brigadier-General of the Home Counties Brigade. He was one of the first recipients of the Volunteer Officers' Decoration. He was also Lieutenant Colonel of the Honourable Artillery Company
Honourable Artillery Company
The Honourable Artillery Company was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII. Today it is a Registered Charity whose purpose is to attend to the “better defence of the realm"...
from 13 November 1866 to 17 August 1881.
Career in public life
Lindsay sat as Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Berkshire
Berkshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Berkshire was a parliamentary constituency in England, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England until 1707, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885...
from 1865 until 1885 and served under Lord Beaconsfield as Financial Secretary to the War Office
Financial Secretary to the War Office
Financial Secretary to the War Office was an office of the British government, the financial secretary of the War Office department.The post was combined with that of Under-Secretary of State for War from 17 April 1947....
between 1877 and 1880. In 1885 he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Wantage, of Lockinge in the County of Berkshire. He then served as Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire
Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire
This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire. Since 1689, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Berkshire.-Lord Lieutenants of Berkshire:*Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset 1551 – 22 January 1552...
from 1886 until his death. Having been initiated as a freemason, passed and raised in Malta en route to the Crimea in 1854, he became Provincial Grand Master of Berkshire from 1898 until his death in 1901. He was appointed the first Chairman of the Council of the National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom
National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom
The National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom is the governing body of full bore rifle and pistol shooting sports in the United Kingdom.- History :...
on 25 November 1890.
Personal life
Lord and Lady Wantage lived at Lockinge House at East LockingeEast Lockinge
East Lockinge is a village in Lockinge civil parish, about east of Wantage. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 local authority boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire.-Manor:...
in Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
(now Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
). He died on 10 June 1901, aged 69. On his death, Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...
, a close personal friend since the Crimea wrote:
Lord Wantage is a great loss but he had been a great gain. And what he has gained for us can never be lost. It is my experience that such men exist only in England. A man who had everything (to use the common phrase) that this world could give him, but who worked as hard, and to the last, as the poorest able man and all for others for the common good. A man whose life makes a great difference for all. All are better than if he had not lived, and this betterment is for always it does not die with him. That is the true estimate of a great life. God bless him and we will bless him. And we will bless God for having made him.
Lady Wantage erected a monument to Lord Wantage on the Ridgeway
The Ridgeway
thumb|right|thumb|The ancient tree-lined path winds over the downs countrysideThe Ridgeway is a ridgeway or ancient trackway described as Britain's oldest road...
. There are various inscriptions on the faces of the monument with the one on the North East side, being in Latin and is similar to that inscribed on the Iona Cross on Gibbet Hill, Hindhead
Gibbet Hill, Hindhead
Gibbet Hill, at Hindhead, Surrey, is a hill above the Devil's Punch Bowl, not far from the A3 London to Portsmouth road in England. It is the second highest point in Surrey after Leith Hill....
, Surrey, namely:
- IN OBITU PAX
- POST OBITUM SALUS
- POST TENEBRAS LUXPost tenebras luxPost tenebras lux is a Latin phrase translated as Light After Darkness.It is Post tenebras spero lucem in the Vulgate version of Job 17:12...
- IN LUCE SPES
Which translates according to the National Trust as “Peace in passing away. Salvation after death. Light after darkness. Hope in light."
As he had no children the title died with him. In 1908 Lady Wantage officially opened Wantage Hall
Wantage Hall
Wantage Hall, built 1908, is the oldest hall of residence at the University of Reading. The hall is in the town of Reading in the UK. The displayed motto "Astra castra, Numen lumen" is that of the Knights of the Maccabees...
, the first Hall of Residence in the University of Reading, in honour of Lord Wantage. She died in August 1920.