Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Richard Henry Jelf (2 February 1844 – 26 April 1913) was a British army officer and commandant of the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...

Early life

Jelf was born in Oxford, the third and youngest son of the Reverend Doctor

Richard William Jelf Richard William Jelf (25 January 179819 September 1871) was the fourth Principal of King's College, London. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, and was subsequently made a Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. He served as can ...

(1798-1871), Principal of

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, and canon of

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. His older brothers were George Edward Jelf, later canon of Rochester, and lawyer Sir Arthur Richard Jelf. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and King's College, London, before entering the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich.

Military career

Jelf entered the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

in 1865. He was promoted to captain in 1878, to Major and Lieutenant-Colonel in 1885, and Colonel in 1889. He saw service on the

Bechuanaland Expedition The Bechuanaland Expedition or Warren Expedition, of late 1884/1885, was a British military expedition to the Tswana country, to assert British sovereignty in the face of encroachments from Germany and the Transvaal, and to suppress the Boer stat ...

(1884-1885), as Director of Military Telegraphs (and was honourably mentioned, Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel). He was later chairman of Sanitary Commissioners,

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

(1893-1897; for which he was invested as a

Companion of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

). He commanded the Royal Engineers, Eastern District, from 1897 to 1901. He retired in 1901 but was recalled to employment as temporary Major-General in the same year, becoming Governor and Commandant of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, a post he retained until 1912. While Commandant, he commissioned the academy's chapel in 1902, an act for which he is commemorated by a brass plaque in the chapel. He was also a spokesman for the Church of England Soldiers' Institutes Association, and wrote a 1910 biography of his friend Joseph James Curling, a soldier and priest who had also joined the Royal Engineers in 1865. In 1882, Jelf commissioned a bell for St Mary's church in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

Bay of Islands The Bay of Islands is an area on the east coast of the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country, and has been renowned internationally for ...

, where Curling was priest.

Family

Jelf lived at

Ashbourne, Derbyshire Ashbourne is a market town in the Derbyshire Dales district in Derbyshire, England. Its population was measured at 8,377 in the 2011 census and was estimated to have grown to 9,163 by 2019. It has many historical buildings and independent sho ...

, where, in May 1911, he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant. With his wife Margaret (''nee'' Blunt, 1839–1921), whom he married on 10 August 1869, he had at least three sons. Wilfrid Jelf and Henry Jelf were both first-class cricketers and military officers. A third son, Richard John Jelf, joined the Royal Engineers and after being invalided home from South Africa shot himself and was buried at sea in June 1900 - a plaque commemorating him and his parents is displayed in Ashbourne's St Oswald's Church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jelf, Richard Henry Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich 1844 births 1913 deaths Royal Engineers officers Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Commandants of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Military personnel from Oxford People educated at Eton College Alumni of King's College London People from Ashbourne, Derbyshire Sanitary commissioners British military personnel who died by suicide Suicides by firearm in England British Army colonels 19th-century British Army personnel 20th-century British Army personnel