Assheton Curzon-Howe

Infobox Military Person
name=Assheton Gore Curzon-Howe


caption=
born= 10 August 1850
died=17 March 1911
placeofbirth=
placeofdeath=
nickname=
allegiance=United Kingdom
branch=Royal Navy
serviceyears=c.1865-1911
rank=Admiral
unit=
commands=
battles=
awards=Order of the Bath
Royal Victorian Order
Order of St Michael and St George
relations=Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe
laterwork=

Assheton Gore Curzon-Howe KCB, CVO, CMG ( [10 August 1850-1911) was a British naval officer who served as Commander-in-Chief of the British Mediterranean Fleet from 1908 to 1910.

Curzon-Howe was the thirteenth and youngest child of Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe, and Anne (d. 1877), who was Lord Howe's second wife (Assheton was the youngest of her three children) [ [http://www.thepeerage.com/p10143.htm The Peerage.Com] ] , daughter of Vice-Admiral Sir John Gore. [ [http://www.thepeerage.com/p10144.htm#i101431 The Peerage.com] ] His paternal great-grandfather was Admiral Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe.

Career

In 1894 Curzon-Howe flew his flag as Commodore on the corvette "Cleopatra" on the North America and West Indies Station. [ [http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~mwi/ship1894.txt Royal Navy - Ships in Service in 1894] This consists of the names of officers listed in Whitaker's Alamanac for 1894 as serving in ships in commission & in reserve in various parts of the world.] [http://www.library.mun.ca/qeii/cns/archives/arch1.php?print=1 A Guide to the Archival Holdingsof The Centre for Newfoundland Studies Memorial University Library. The Centre for Newfoundland Studies has "an autograph letter on HMS Cleopatra letterhead, dated August 21 1894, signed Assheton G. Curzon-Howe, Commodore of the Cleopatra, concerning employees of Munn Brothers and others from Conception Bay encountered on his trip to Labrador. Envelope and small Christmas card included."]

In 1906, now a Vice Admiral, Curzon-Howe served as second-in-command of the Channel Fleet, flying his flag in HMS "Caesar" (Captain Sydney R. Fremantle). [ [http://www.geocities.com/scs028a/rn1906channelfleet.html The Royal Navy June 1906 Channel Fleet] ] In 1907, he was Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet. [ [http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/RN/Appointments_-_SNOs.html Extracts from Late 19th Century and Early 20th Century Newspapers - Appointments of Senior Naval Officers - Taken from "The Queenslander " {Australia} November 10, 1906 {page 13} as transcribed by Bev Edmonds]
:"The following changes in naval commands, to take effect early in 1907, have been officially announced... CURZON-HOWE, Vice-Admiral Sir Assheton G., {second in command to the Channel Fleet} to be Commander of the Atlantic Fleet."] Curzon-Howe the served as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet from 1908 to 1910. [ [http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0014%2FMCKN%203 Janus: The Papers of Reginald McKenna] ] He was promoted to Admiral in late 1909 or early 1910. [ [http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0014%2FMCKN%203 Janus: The Papers of Reginald McKenna] ] He was Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth from 1 May 1910 until his death, age 60, on 17 March 1911. During this time he flew his flag in HMS Victory. [ [http://www.hms-victory.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54&Itemid=80 HMS Victory]
[http://www.thepeerage.com/p5001.htm#i50010 The Peerage.Com] gives his date of death as 1 March 1911. It seems likely that this is an error.]

Family

On 25 February 1892, at the age of 41, Assheton married Alice Anne Cowell, daughter of General Rt. Hon. Sir John Cowell. They had four children:
* Captain Leicester Charles Assheton St. John Curzon-Howe (8 July 1894 - 21 February 1941)
* Victoria Alexandrina Alice Curzon-Howe (1 September 1896 - 3 February 1910)
* Assheton Penn Curzon-Howe-Herrick (21 August 1898 - 23 February 1959)
* Joyce Mary Curzon-Howe (16 July 1906-?)
* Elizabeth Anne Curzon-Howe (15 November 1909-?)

His wife Alice died on 5 November 1948. [ [http://www.thepeerage.com/p5001.htm#i50010 The Peerage.Com] ]

Assheton's elder sister, Lady Mary Anna Curzon (1848-1929), was the great-great-grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales. []

Footnotes