Francis Knollys, 1st Viscount Knollys

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For other people named Francis Knollys, see Francis Knollys (disambiguation).

Lord Stamfordham
Personal details
Born16 July 1837
Died15 August 1924 (1924-08-16) (aged 87)
NationalityBritish
Parent(s)William Thomas Knollys
Elizabeth St Aubyn
Alma materRoyal Military College, Sandhurst

Francis Knollys, 1st Viscount Knollys,

PC (16 July 1837 – 15 August 1924) was a British courtier. He served as Private Secretary to the Sovereign
from 1901 to 1913.

Background and education

See also: Knollys family

Knollys was the son of Sir William Thomas Knollys (1797–1883), of Blount's Court at Rotherfield Peppard in Oxfordshire, and was educated in Guernsey. He entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in 1851, and was commissioned into the 23rd Foot as an ensign in 1854.

Career

In the following year, however, Knollys joined the

Queen Victoria 1868–1901, and a Lord-in-waiting to Queen Mary
1910–1924.

Personal life

Lord Knollys married the Honourable Ardyn Mary Tyrwhitt, daughter of Sir Henry Thomas Tyrwhitt, 3rd Baronet and Harriet Tyrwhitt, 12th Baroness Berners.[when?]

Death

Lord Knollys died in August 1924, aged 87. His titles were inherited by his eldest son,

Edward George William Tyrwhitt Knollys, 2nd Viscount Knollys
(1895–1966).

In Popular Culture

After his appointment as Private Secretary to the Sovereign, Lord Knollys was well known as the public face of the Court, and is often mentioned in memoirs and fiction of the period. In his 1911 novel "C.Q., or in the Wireless House",

Arthur Train
wrote of his fixing a scandal (fictitious, this time):

"She was still spoken of as one of the most beautiful women in the world; but the exquisite hour of her perfection had passed. Then, perhaps feeling that her supremacy was no longer undisputed, a sense of pique at younger and fresher women had led her into certain too flagrant indiscretions that could not be overlooked.

Lord Knollys had intimated that a knighthood might please her husband; and the directorate of the Royal Bank of Edinburgh, of which he was the London manager, by a coincidence no less extraordinary than it was timely, had proposed that he should open a similar branch in New York and temporarily become its resident agent. In other words, royalty had politely indicated that, although it was deeply pained to do so, it must, for policy's sake, at least, withdraw that intimacy which it had previously been pleased to extend".

Honours

Knollys was created a Companion of the

Privy Councillor
in 1910, and in 1911 he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Knollys, of Caversham in the County of Oxford.

References

  1. ^ "No. 27283". The London Gazette. 12 February 1901. p. 1058.
  2. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31883. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  3. ^ "The Coronation Honours". The Times. No. 36804. London. 26 June 1902. p. 5.
  4. ^ "No. 27455". The London Gazette. 18 July 1902. p. 4587.
  5. ^ "The Parliament - House of Lords". The Times. No. 36841. London. 8 August 1902. p. 4.
  6. ^ "No. 27285". The London Gazette. 15 February 1901. p. 1145.

Cited source

External links
Court offices
Preceded by Private Secretary to the Sovereign
1901 – 1913 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Viscount Knollys
1911 – 1924 		Succeeded by
Baron Knollys

1902 – 1924
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