Edward Fitzherbert, 13th Baron Stafford

Admiral Edward Stafford Fitzherbert, 13th Baron Stafford, KCB, GOTE (17 April 1864 – 28 September 1941) was an English peer, holding the title Baron Stafford. He was also a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope Station.

Edward Fitzherbert, 13th Baron Stafford
1918 portrait by Francis Dodd
Born17 April 1864
Died28 September 1941 (1941-09-29) (aged 77)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service1877–1925
RankAdmiral
Commands heldHMS Albemarle
HMS Impregnable, formerly Howe
HMS Bedford
Cape of Good Hope Station
Battles/warsWorld War I
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Grand Officer of the Military Order of the Tower and Sword

Naval career edit

Fitzherbert joined the Royal Navy in 1877.[1] He was promoted to commander on 30 June 1899,[2] and during the summer of 1902 was appointed in command of the protected cruiser HMS Cambrian, senior officer′s ship on the South East Coast of America Station.[3] Promoted to captain in 1904,[4] he was given command of the battleship HMS Albemarle,[5] of the training ship HMS Impregnable[6] and then of the armoured cruiser HMS Bedford which ran aground in 1910, leading him to be found guilty of negligence.[7]

He served in World War I as Director of Mines and Torpedoes from October 1915 and saw the introduction of the highly successful Coastal Motor Boat craft and the variant of this, the first unmanned Radio Controlled naval vessels, the Distant Control Boats. He was Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope Station from May 1918.[8] He became a full Admiral on retirement in 1925.[9]

On 14 June 1919, he was made a Grand Officer of the Order of the Tower and Sword by the Portuguese President João do Canto e Castro.[10]

Family edit

His father was Basil Thomas Fitzherbert and his mother was Emily Charlotte Stafford-Jerningham.[11] He changed his surname to Fitzherbert-Stafford by Royal Licence. It was through his mother's side of the family that he gained the Stafford barony in 1932; his brother Francis Fitzherbert-Stafford, 12th Baron Stafford had died without issue that year.[12] Fitzherbert-Stafford also descended from Genoese nobility as his great grandfather was John Vincent Gandolfi, 12th Marquis Gandolfi.[13]

The barony thus passed on to his nephew, Basil Fitzherbert, 14th Baron Stafford. The 13th Baron Stafford died at the family seat of Swynnerton Hall in 1941 at age 77.[citation needed]

References edit

  1. ^ Naval Cadetships, The Times, 30 June 1877
  2. ^ "No. 27099". The London Gazette. 14 July 1899. p. 4345.
  3. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36847. London. 15 August 1902. p. 4.
  4. ^ "Royal Navy Admirals 1904-1945". Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  5. ^ "Royal Navy Fleet Organisation 1906". Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  6. ^ Navy List 1908
  7. ^ Royal Navy Memorials[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ Simonstown Historical Society Archived 2010-11-04 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "No. 33031". The London Gazette. 20 March 1925. p. 1954.
  10. ^ "Cidadãos Estrangeiros Agraciados com Ordens Portuguesas". Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  11. ^ Lundy, Darryl. "Edward Fitzherbert, 13th Baron Stafford". ThePeerage.com. p. 7521 § 75208. Retrieved 21 March 2008. [unreliable source?]
  12. ^ Francis Edward Fitzherbert-Stafford, 12th Baron Stafford". GeneAll.net. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
  13. ^ Raineval, Melville Henry Massue marquis de Ruvigny et (1994). The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal: Being a Complete Table of All the Descendants Now Living of Edward III, King of England. The Clarence volume. Genealogical Publishing Co. p. [page needed]. ISBN 978-0-8063-1432-7.

External links edit

Military offices
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope Station
1918–1920
Succeeded by
Peerage of England
Preceded by Baron Stafford
1932–1941
Succeeded by