Algernon William John Clotworthy Skeffington, 12th Viscount Massereene and 5th Viscount Ferrard, DSO (28 November 1873 – 20 July 1956) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and an

Ulster Unionist The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist oppositi ...

member of the

Senate of Northern Ireland The Senate of Northern Ireland was the upper house of the Parliament of Northern Ireland created by the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It was abolished with the passing of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973. Powers In practice the Se ...

from 1921 to 1929. During this period he served as Deputy Leader of the Senate and Parliamentary Secretary in the Department of the Prime Minister.

Early life

Skeffington was the eldest son of Clotworthy John Skeffington, 11th Viscount Massereene by Florence Whyte-Melville, only daughter of Major

George Whyte-Melville George John Whyte-Melville (19 June 1821 – 5 December 1878) was a Scottish novelist much concerned with field sports, and also a poet. He took a break in the mid-1850s to serve as an officer of Turkish irregular cavalry in the Crimean War. Li ...

. He succeeded his father as 12th Viscount Massereene and 5th Viscount Ferrard in 1905, both in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

; his inheritance included about 16,000 acres. They also held the title Baron Oriel, in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

, which gave them the right to sit in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

MASSEREENE and FERRARD', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007

Career

He entered the army in February 1895, when he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the

17th Lancers The 17th Lancers (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1759 and notable for its participation in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. The regim ...

, and was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 13 November 1895. The regiment was stationed in Ireland from 1897 until 1900. Promotion to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

followed on 8 February 1900. From 1900 to 1902 he served with his regiment in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

, where he was wounded, twice

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

(including the final despatch by Lord Kitchener dated 23 June 1902), and for which he was promoted a brevet

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

on 22 August 1902, and created a Companion of the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

(DSO). He stayed in South Africa throughout the war, which ended June 1902 with the

Peace of Vereeniging The Treaty of Vereeniging was a peace treaty, signed on 31 May 1902, that ended the Second Boer War between the South African Republic and the Orange Free State on the one side, and the United Kingdom on the other. This settlement provided ...

. Four months later he left

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

with other officers and men of the 17th Lancers on the SS ''German'' in late September 1902, and arrived at Southampton in late October, when they were posted to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. He retired from the army in 1907, but served again as an officer with the

North Irish Horse The North Irish Horse was a yeomanry unit of the British Territorial Army raised in the northern counties of Ireland in the aftermath of the Second Boer War. Raised and patronised by the nobility from its inception to the present day, it was o ...

World War I 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 ...

1914–18. Lord Massereene was Parliamentary Secretary in the Department of the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland 1921–1929. He also served as Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of County Antrim 1916–1938.

Personal life

Lord Massereene married twice. In 1905 he married Jean Barbara Ainsworth (d 1937), eldest daughter of Sir John Ainsworth, 1st Baronet. They had two children: * John Whyte-Melville-Skeffington, who succeeded as 13th Viscount. * Diana Skeffington, d.1930. In 1922, the family was living in the ancestral home,

Antrim Castle Antrim Castle or Massereene Castle was a fortified mansion in Antrim, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on the banks of the Sixmilewater River. It was built in stages between 1613 and 1662. It was destroyed by fire in 1922 and finally demolishe ...

, when it was set on fire by the IRA. They then moved to Clotworthy House. Lady Massereene was active in charitable causes, serving as president of the Women's National Health Association, and was also interested in

spiritualism Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at leas ...

. She died in 1937. In 1940 the Viscount remarried Mrs Florence Clementina Vere Vere-Laurie.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Massereene, Algernon Skeffington, 12th Viscount 1873 births 1956 deaths Ulster Unionist Party members of the Senate of Northern Ireland Members of the Senate of Northern Ireland 1921–1925 Members of the Senate of Northern Ireland 1925–1929 Northern Ireland junior government ministers (Parliament of Northern Ireland) 12 North Irish Horse officers British Army personnel of World War I Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Members of London County Council