Prince Arthur,
Duke of Connaught

Prince Arthur William Patrick Albert was born 8:20 am 1st May 1850. The seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria. By all accounts he was her favourite son.

Prince Arthur was a career soldier and rose in rank, being promoted in 1902 to the rank of Field Marshal.

He entered the Royal Military College, Woolwich, in 1867 and started his career as a lieutenant in the Royal Engineers. He spent a year with his regiment in Montreal, and served on the Red River expedition of 1870 - early connections with the country he was to return to as Governor-General.
After serving with the Rifle Brigade at Tell-el-Kebir in 1882, he served in India, Ireland, the Mediterranean and South Africa. At least for some of his time in India he was stationed in Meerut. Anil Bhattacharji has written to me from that town to say that the grand building that housed the Duke at that time is now a bank. #595 It was while at Meerut that army officer Robert Baden-Powell was attached to the Duke's staff. Two decades later Baden-Powell would found the Boy Scouts and in 1913 the Duke was appointed President of the association.

It is reported that the Duke was bitterly disappointed not to succeed the Duke of Cambridge as Commander-in-Chief in 1895.

Named Duke of Connaught in 1874 (or more precisely, the 1st Duke of Connaught and Strathearn), he married Princess Louise, the shy daughter of Prince Frederick of Prussia, in 1879. They had two daughters and one son.

In 1905 their elder daughter, Margaret, married into the Swedish Royal family and became Crown Princess Margaret, wife of King Gustav VI of Sweden.
Their younger daughter, Princess Patricia, is well known to Canadians as Lady Patricia Ramsay, and gave her name to a famous Canadian army regiment, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. Lady Patricia lived locally and worshipped at St Anne's Church until her death in 1974. A memorial plaque to Lady Patricia was unveiled by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, in St Anne's Church, Bagshot, on 25 March 1990. [pictures]

Their son, also Prince Arthur of Connaught, died four years before his father and so never inherited the title, which passed to the Duke's grandson Alistair Arthur, 2nd Duke of Connaught. He was was Duke for only a very short while, dying in 1943 at the age of 29 without any successors. More about Prince Arthur.

A family tree is here.

A predominantly red and gold banner with lions and a harp

The Duke's personal banner bearing his coat of arms which hung over his stall as a Knight of the Garter in St George's Chapel, Windsor, until his death.

The Duke served as Governor General of Canada from 1911 to 1916, he performed many civic duties, he clearly had a great affinity for the country and was very popular. Many Canadian places and institutions were named after him, including Prince Arthur's Landing, now Port Arthur; and The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own). There is more about the Duke in Canada below.

It is not just Canadian places that are named after him. At risk of a boring list of attributions, the following are among those that came to light in researching this page:

several Indian Army units bear his title, including the 129th Duke of Connaught's Own Baluchis, a unit from whose ranks came the first Indian citizen to be awarded the Victoria Cross.
at least one British army unit: the 6th Hampshire Regiment (TA) (Duke of Connaught's Own) Battn (Portsmouth).
street names, such as Connaught Place, Edinburgh. (Though some may also have been named after Connaught in Ireland)
New Delhi's original shopping arcade
a G.W.R. locomotive built in 1897 and which achieved a record average speed from Bristol to London in 1903.
A Maltese band.
Contributed by Royston: "We have a Connaught Road in Newbury (Berkshire) named after Prince Arthur and an Arthur Road (probably also named after him). The Prince was in Newbury in 1872 on military manoeuvres. By the way, I understand that Port Arthur in Ontario was amalgamated with nearby Fort William in January 1970 to form the city of Thunder Bay. I also note that the Wikipedia Encyclopaedia states that Prince Arthur was in India 1886-90 but more accurately the National Dictionary of Biography states he was a Divisional Commander 1883-86 in India and Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay Army 1886-90." [Dec 08 X]

It is reported that the Duke was heavily involved in German affairs. This would not be too surprising as his father (Prince Albert of Coburg), his maternal grandmother and his wife were all German. One might speculate that the reason for an eminent Field Marshal being posted to Canada in 1911 may have been to distance him from the military aspects of a deteriorating German situation.

The Duke was, in 1926, Godfather at the Christening of Princess Elizabeth of York, now far better known as our present Queen. He was Her Majesty's great great uncle.

The Duke was a freemason. He became Grand Master in 1901 when his brother, who had held that post for the previous 27 years, acceded to the Throne as King Edward VII. The Duke served as Grand Master to his death in 1942.

He was Patron of many organisations, one local one being the Royal Albert Orphan School. More about this.

Yet to be added to this page:

sailing
Scouting (The picture to the right is the Duke as President of the Boy Scouts in the mid-1930's)
his chére amie
his house in Cap-Ferrat

The Duke of Connaught in Canada

As noted above the Duke had many associations with Canada and was Governor General of Canada from 1911 to 1916, but his association with the country predates that.

Rose A Belle wrote: "I have discovered a picture of Prince Arthur during a hunting expedition in 1872 near Otter Lake, Quebec. My great grandfather, Francois Lavigne, was the cook on the expedition and is pictured crouching over a deer next to Prince Arthur." Aug10

A marriage that could never happen?

Paul Southern writes: When King Manuel of Portugal visited Britain in the autumn of 1909, he dined on a number of occassions with the Duchess of Connaught and her daughter, Princess Patricia. It was rumoured in Portuguese circles that Manuel was looking for a wife but the fact that Patricia was a Protestant and Manuel a Catholic, meant that nothing came of it. I wonder if anyone can shed any further light on this? [Oct 13 ??]

The Duke of Connaught in Malta

It never ceases to amaze me that the Duke got to so many places around the world, not only visited them but had a sufficient impact that places and organisations were named after him - and live on today.

Michael wrote to me from Malta telling me about the Duke of Connaught's Own band - another example of the Duke's memory living on. But he had not been able to find out much about the Duke's activities on Malta.

A lady has written: "I have enjoyed the music of the Duke of Connaught's own band, Malta 2005. My grandfather was in The Connaught Rangers and served in Malta 1889-1895 so I am drawn to any connection like that. Maybe the National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London could help about the Duke's activities in Malta."

Bob has written "Attached to the Floriana Methodist Church in Malta was a building known as "The Connaught Home", a sort of hostel / meeting place where people who attended the church, and others who did not, used to get together. There is a picture of it at www.scienceandsociety.co.uk. This has a caption which implies that this was the home of the Duke, although I had always assumed that "home" meant that it had been a home for sailors, not that the Duke had lived there. The significance of "The Connaught" to my wife and me, and quite a few other couples we know, is that it is where we met (in 1961). Of other places with the name Connaught - in Sidmouth where we now live, is a Connaught Gardens, opened by the Duke in 1934. Before that we lived at Sunninghill, just up the road from Bagshot, so wherever we go, we seem to be close to a Connaught influence. But as you say - he certainly seems to have got around a bit, judging by the number of places in which his name crops up!" [7004.107 X]

From Ann Lyon "When I lived in Malta in 1968-71 I was in the 19th Malta (Floriana) Company of the Girl Guides, based at Connaught House. I cannot now remember what it looked like, but it may well have been the same building as 'the Connaught Home'. It was also the meeting place of the local Scouts and other such organisations." xii8

More about the Duke and Meerut

Asad Ullah Khan wrote to say "The Duke, while at Meerut where he commanded a regiment, had come to know my maternal great grand father Wazir Muhummed Khan who was deputy collector there. His son Said Muhammed Khan went to England to be trained at Scotland Yard in 1928. He mentions in his autobiographical pamphlet "RAMBLES AND RECOLLECTIONS OF AN OLD ALIGARIAN" that while in London he availed the opportunity of paying his respects to the Duke - who had a vivid memory of his stay at Meerut and "Received me graciously'." {Apr 11 X}

Duties & presentations

Presenting awards will have been part-and-parcel of the life of a person in the Duke's position.

Struan writes: My grandfather Sgt T Vickers was presented with the Colonel's prize in the Regimental Carbine competition of the Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles in 1897 by General HRH The Duke of Connaught KC. We still have the award. Apr 13

The Duke as MC at a Wedding?

An enquiry from Malcolm Camp intrigued me. "My grand father's cousin Fances Maude Camp (or Scamp) married Emert John Garrod (born 1874) in 1902. The Duke of Connaught was master of ceremony's as Emert's father John Garrod was head of the Duke's stud farm. Was this at Bagshot Park and what became of the Bagshot Garrods?". {Feb11}

A little digging revealed more questions than answers - I could find nobody by the name of Garrod in Bagshot in the 1901 census, nor any Emert Garrod in that census. I had seen nothing to indicate that the Duke was into racing let along breeding, and it seemed to me unlikely that the Duke would have officiated at the wedding of one of his employees' children. We must all recognise that family legend is liable to get corrupted, but this 'event' is relatively recent and engrained in some detail, so it seems unlikely that it is a fanciful fabrication. Can you throw any light on it? Might it have been the Duke's son Prince Arthur who had a Stud Farm?
Norma spotted this enquiry and, by looking for alternative spellings, identified the marriage record which gives the groom's Christian name as Ernest rather that Emert . She also found the bride in the 1901 census - but could not find a good fit for the groom. She wrote:

The marriage of Ernest John GARROD to Frances Maud CAMP was in the Registration District of Hampstead in the July to September quarter of 1902 (ref Vol 1a Page 1535).
On the 1901 census Frances M CAMP was aged 26, a housemaid to James G. LORRAIN and family at 14, Primrose Hill Road, Hampstead. She was born in Walsham, Suffolk.

There is an Ernest GARROD aged 19, with a father John, on the 1901 census at 23, Aylesbury Street, Newington, but the father was a Stationers Packer and Ernest was a Paper Warehouse Packer. The father, John, was from Suffolk, the same county as Frances CAMP.

Alternately, there is an Ernest aged 23 (thus born about 1877) on the 1901 census, living in Hampstead, who was a Billiard Marker, living with his parents Robert & Elizabeth and siblings. Robert was a Domestic Coachman, and was also from Suffolk. I have not found Ernest and Frances on the 1911 census.

I have looked in the Times Newspaper Archives (available through our local library) but cannot see any reference to this marriage, which presumably would have made the news headlines if the Duke of Connaught was Master of Ceremonies. I've also looked on the New Zealand & Australian Newspaper Archives, free to access online at http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper as they have lots of reports from the English Newspapers, and, the dates they cover extend further than the 19th Century Newspapers, which we can access through our library, at home, as well as the Times and . {Apr 11}

Further research has indicated that the Garrod and Scamp / Camp families were not local to Bagshot, that the groom's name was Ernest (Emert being a mis-transcription by an agency who put data onto the Internet) who described himself on the Marriage Register as a 24 year old Hotel Servant, and that his father was Robert, a coachman.

I think this enquiry has run its course, but I will leave the text here because it provides an excellent example of the issues one needs to be aware of when researching family history. In addition to Norma's excellent advice about being able to find UK newspaper reports via Australia and New Zealand. At the risk of appearing to deliver one of my lectures, we must recognise that family memories can get mixed up, that not all records are reliable and transcription errors do occur. As we build up a picture of the past all we can ever say is "it seems likely that...", we must always be prepared to re-examine the data and to change our opinion. Single pieces of evidence are never enough, we need to look for independently corroborating evidence. [Sep 11]

BERESFORD. {Jan11}
This enquiry is now closed.

The Duke's car?

Vincent wrote about a 1937 Austin Goodwood registration FGO 111 which was reputed to have been owned by the Duke. This enquiry is now closed, but it prompted further correspondence: [Dec 11 xxx]

Daryl Stephens: "I have a 1925 Rolls Royce Phantom I which I have been told was owned by the Duke . It is car MC25 and its reg is JA3738. It appears in a photo of the Duke convening a jamboree in 1927, but those are the only details I have." [Jul 13]

Meddy: "My grandfather was driver and engineer for the Duke of Connaught and also had a French driving licence for the Duke's visits to France. We have photos of him and the first car etc but not the one asked for here." [Apr 13 x]

Lionel Parr, who worked at Bagshot Park, has written "I recall the Duke being driven around the Bagshot Park estate in an Austin by Miss Haskins. I think (more than 70 years later) that it was brown or green.

"If there was a Rolls-Royce, it may have been kept at Clarence House, the Duke's London residence. There may have been a Daimler at Bagshot but perhaps for special occasions only. The Duke's chauffeur was Mr Brown." [Jan 14]

Comptroller

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Malcolm Murray (1867–1938) was Comptroller of the Household to the Duke of Connaught from 1906 to his death in a boating accident on Virginia Water lake in Windsor Great Park. Adrian reports that his medals were sold by auction in 2012. Details can be seen here. [Dec 17]

I have more about Bagshot Park including some about staff in service there.

There is an encyclopdia entry about the Duke here.

Many of my pages have been prompted by, or include questions or information from, my readers. If you can add anything to the above please write to me using the message pad below.

This page is part of the Bagshot village web site.
My site has no connection with the Crown Estates or any member of the Royal family, and I am not able to forward messages to them.

Data provided only for personal background information. While every effort has been made to provide correct information no assurance as to its accuracy is given or implied. Check any facts you wish to rely upon.

Information sources used include:

http://www.bcregiment.com/ especially http://www.bcregiment.com/history-3.htm

http://zodiacal.com/royalty/6327.htm

http://worldroots.com/brigitte/royal/royal28a.htm

http://www.du.edu/~tomills/military/asia/ia1918.htm

http://www.hants.gov.uk/museums/ofr/hunit_t.html

http://www.edunetconnect.com/cat/can_govs.html

http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~mmbt/women/johnson/vancouver/vancouver-15.html

http://www.btinternet.com/~mark.robbins/y14_1.htm

http://www.btinternet.com/~squaremile.tours/history.html

http://www.nucleus.com/~kitshop/mindex.html

http://hotweird.com/heliophobe/mkultra.htm

http://www.connaught-place.com/

http://www.royal.gov.uk/faq/honour3.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Arthur,_Duke_of_Connaught_and_Strathearn

http://meerutup.tripod.com/meerut2.htm

Photographic Exhibition in Windsor Castle.

Since first preparing this page several URL have been reported as invalid, where this has happened I have endeavoured to remove the active link but leave the URL as text just in case it is only a temporary problem.

Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught