View source for Raymond Asquith

{{Short description|English barrister}}
{{distinguish|Raymond Asquith, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| pre-nominals       = 
| name               = Raymond Asquith
| image              = Raymond Asquith02.jpg
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = 
| birth_date         = 6 November 1878
| birth_place        = [[Hampstead, London]], England<ref>''1881 England Census''</ref>
| death_date         = {{death date and age|df=yes|1916|9|15|1878|11|06}}
| death_place        = near [[Ginchy]], France
| death_cause        = [[Killed in action]]
| resting_place      = CWGC Guillemont Road Cemetery
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| other_names        = 
| known_for          = 
| education          = [[Winchester College]]<br />[[Balliol College, Oxford]]
| employer           = 
| occupation         = Lawyer
| title              = 
| height             = 
| term               = 
| predecessor        = 
| successor          = 
| party              = 
| boards             = 
| spouse             = [[Katharine Asquith|Katharine Frances Horner]]
| partner            = 
| children           = {{plain list|
* 3, including:
* [[Julian Asquith, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Asquith]]
}}
| parents            = {{plain list|
* [[H. H. Asquith]]
* Helen Melland
}}
| relatives          = 
| signature          = 
| website            = 
| footnotes          = 
| module       = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes
| allegiance    = United Kingdom
| branch        = [[British Army]]
| serviceyears  = 1915–1916
| servicenumber = <!--Do not use data from primary sources such as service records.-->
| unit          = 3rd Battalion, [[Grenadier Guards]]
| battles       = [[World War I|First World War]]
*[[Battle of the Somme]]
**[[Battle of Flers-Courcelette]] {{KIA}}
}}
}}
'''Raymond Herbert Asquith''' (6 November 1878 – 15 September 1916) was an English [[barrister]] and eldest son of British prime minister [[H. H. Asquith]]. A distinguished [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] scholar, he was a member of the fashionable group of intellectuals known as [[the Coterie]], which included, [[Lady Diana Cooper|Lady Diana Manners]] (with whom he had a long flirtatious relationship), [[Patrick Shaw-Stewart]], Charles Lister, Hugo "Ego" Charteris, [[Julian Grenfell]] and [[Edward Horner]]. The Coterie were notable for their unconventional lifestyles and lavish hospitality. Like several of them, Asquith was killed in action in the [[First World War]] during his father's term in office.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mr. Asquith's Bereavement – Message of Sympathy from the King |work=[[The Times]] |page=11 |date=20 September 1916 }}</ref>

== Career and honours ==
Asquith was the eldest son of British prime minister H. H. Asquith and his first wife, Helen Kelsall Melland.

He was educated at [[Winchester College|Winchester]], from where he won a scholarship to [[Balliol College, Oxford|Balliol]] in 1896, taking with him a reputation for brilliance. He won the Ireland, Derby, and Craven scholarships, and graduated with first-class honours. Elected a [[fellow]] of [[All Souls College, Oxford|All Souls]] in 1902, he received the [[Eldon Law Scholarship]],<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=University intelligence |date=12 December 1902 |page=8 |issue=36949}}</ref> and was [[called to the bar]] in 1904.<ref name="et">[http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/item/3110/ Asquith and the Conspiracy to Sink Titanic: ET Research (2004) by Senan Molony – 9 July 2004]. Encyclopedia-titanica.org. Retrieved on 2012-06-24.</ref> The tall, handsome Asquith was a member of [[the Coterie]], a group of [[Edwardian era|Edwardian]] socialites and intellectuals.

Asquith was junior [[counsel]] in the North Atlantic Fisheries Arbitration and the [[British Wreck Commissioner's inquiry into the sinking of the RMS Titanic]], and was considered a putative [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] candidate for [[Derby (UK Parliament constituency)|Derby]]. However, his rise was interrupted by the outbreak of the [[World War I|First World War]]. He was initially commissioned, on 17 December 1914, as a [[second lieutenant]] into the 16th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment ([[Queen's Westminster Rifles]]).<ref>{{London Gazette | issue=29027 |page=132 | date=1 January 1915}}</ref> He was transferred to the 3rd Battalion, [[Grenadier Guards]] on 14 August 1915,<ref>{{London Gazette | issue=29262 |page=8024 | date=13 August 1915}}</ref> and assigned as a [[staff officer]], but he requested to be returned to active duty with his [[battalion]], a request granted before the [[Battle of the Somme]].

While leading the first half of 4 [[company (military unit)|Company]] in an attack near [[Ginchy]] on 15 September 1916, at the [[Battle of Flers-Courcelette]], he was shot in the chest but famously lit a cigarette to hide the seriousness of his injuries so that his men would continue the attack, being shot at 16:30 pm.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Somme|page=238|date=1966|first=Anthony|last=Farrah-Hockley|author-link=Anthony Farrar-Hockley}}</ref> He died whilst being carried back to British lines. His body was buried at [[Guillemont]] in the CWGC Guillemont Road Cemetery (Plot I. Row B. Grave 3.). The grave's headstone is inscribed: 'Small time but in that small most greatly lived this star of England',<ref>{{CWGC|id=534115|name=Asquith, Raymond|accessdate=1 May 2020}}</ref> a concluding line from Shakespeare's ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]''.

In his 1928 obituary tribute to H.H. Asquith, [[Winston Churchill]] summarised Asquith's last moments:

<blockquote>It seemed quite easy for Raymond Asquith, when the time came, to face death and to die. When I saw him at the Front he seemed to move through the cold, squalor and peril of the winter trenches as if he were above and immune from the common ills of the flesh, a being clad in polished armour, entirely undisturbed, presumably invulnerable. The War which found the measure of so many, never got to the bottom of him, and when the Grenadiers strode into the crash and thunder of the Somme, he went to his fate cool, poised, resolute, matter of fact, debonair. And well we know that his father, then bearing the supreme burden of the State, would proudly have marched at his side.<ref>Clifford, Colin (2003). "The Asquiths." London: John Murray Page 366</ref></blockquote>

The writer [[John Buchan]] devoted several pages of his autobiography ''[[Memory Hold-the-Door]]'' to his friendship with Asquith. He noted of Raymond's character:

<blockquote>I do not think he could ever have been called popular. He was immensely admired, but he did not lay himself out to acquire popularity, and in the ordinary man he inspired awe rather than liking. His courtesy was without warmth, he was apt to be intolerant of mediocrity, and he had no desire for facile acquaintanceships. Also – let it be admitted – there were times when he was almost inhuman. He would destroy some piece of honest sentiment with a jest, and he had no respect for the sacred places of dull men. There was always a touch of scorn in him for obvious emotions, obvious creeds, and all the accumulated lumber of prosaic humanity. That was a defect of his great qualities. He kept himself for his friends and refused to bother about the world. But as such who were to his friendship he would deny nothing. I have never known a friend more considerate, and tender, and painstaking, and unfalteringly loyal. It was the relation of all others in life for which he had been born with a peculiar genius.<ref>Buchan, John (1940). "Pilgrim's Way." Cambridge: Houghton Mifflin Pages 52-53</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Guillemont Road Cemetery-3.JPG|thumb|Asquith's grave in Guillemont Road Cemetery]]
[[File:Memorial tablet to Raymond Asquith in Amiens Cathedral.JPG|thumb|Memorial tablet in Amiens Cathedral]]
[[File:The Memorial to Raymond Asquith (6025307764).jpg|thumb|Memorial in [[St Andrew's Church, Mells|St Andrew's Church]] in Mells]]
[[File:From the battlefields of France (geograph 4054856) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Battlefield cross for Asquith, in St Andrew's Church in Mells]]

Buchan's analysis of Asquith's personality is endorsed by several other contemporaries who found him clever but rather arrogant, cold, cynical and aloof.
=== Memorials ===
A memorial tablet to Asquith's memory was erected in [[Amiens Cathedral]]. The inscription, in French and Latin, states: <blockquote>Priez pour l'âme de RAYMOND ASQUITH Lieutenant aux Grenadiers de la Garde Royale. Fils ainé de Herbert Henry Asquith premier ministre du Royaume Uni. Né le 6 Nov. 1878. Tombé au champ d'honneur près de Guinchy le 15 Sept. 1916. [''Pray for the soul of RAYMOND ASQUITH Lieutenant of the Grenadiers of the Royal Guard. Eldest son of Herbert Henry Asquith, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Born Nov. 6 1878. Fell on the field of honour near Guinchy Sept. 15 1916.'']</blockquote><blockquote>[[O Antiphons|O ORIENS]] SPLENDOR LUCIS AETERNAE VENI ET ILLUMINA SEDENTES IN TENEBRIS ET UMBRA MORTIS. Gloriae memor posuit conjux. [''O dawn of the east, brightness of light eternal, and sun of justice: come, and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. Placed by his wife in glorious memory.'']</blockquote> He is also the subject of a memorial in [[St Andrew's Church, Mells|St Andrew's Church]] near the family home in [[Mells, Somerset|Mells]] in [[Somerset]], and is listed on [[Mells War Memorial]]; both memorials were designed by [[Sir Edwin Lutyens]], a friend of the Asquith family.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1058315 |desc=Mells War Memorial |accessdate=7 February 2016}}</ref>

The St Andrew's Church memorial wording is:<blockquote>''In piam memoriam Raymondi Asquith Coll. Wintoniensis et Balliolensis scholaris Coll. Omnium Animarum socii qui in foro et republica ad omnia ingenii virtutisque praemia spe et votis aequalium destinatus medio in flore aetatis armis pro patria sumptis fortiter pugnans occidit defunctum terra tenet longinqua et amica desiderio inexpleto prosequuntur sui''<br/>N. VI NOV. MDCCCLXXVIII OB. XV SEPT. MCMXVI<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Pym|editor-first1=Dora|editor-last2= Silver|editor-first2=Nancy|title=Alive on men's lips: an anthology of Rome and the Latin language in the life of twenty centuries|page=142|year=1952|entry=Raymond Asquith's Epitaph}}</ref></blockquote>

In English the text reads:<blockquote>In loving memory of Raymond Asquith Scholar of Winchester College and Balliol College Fellow of All Souls College Who was destined by the hopes and desires of his contemporaries To win all the rewards of intellectual talent and virtue. In the middle of the flower of his life He took up arms for his native-land and died fighting bravely. A distant and friendly land holds him now he is dead. His family and friends mourn him with unrequited longing. Born on 6 November 1878, died on 15 September 1916.<ref>{{cite web|last=Inglis|first=Susan|date=18 September 2008|title=A Visit to… Mells|work=Great War Literature |url=https://www.greatwarliterature.co.uk/a-visit-to-mells/|access-date=18 January 2018}}{{Dead link|date=November 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref></blockquote>

Asquith and his wife Katharine are portrayed in [[Phoebe Traquair]]'s apse mural in All Saints Church, at [[Thorney Hill]], he also appears in [[William Rothenstein]]'s unfinished mural "War Cartoon" located at the [[University of Southampton]].

== Family ==
[[File:Raymond Asquith and Katharine.jpg|thumb|Raymond Asquith and his wife in 1913]]
Raymond Asquith was married on 25 July 1907 to [[Katharine Asquith|Katharine Frances Horner]],<ref>[http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0014%2FDUFC The Papers of Alfred Duff Cooper (1st Viscount Norwich)]. janus.lib.cam.ac.uk</ref> younger daughter<ref>See [http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101049524/ Oxford DNB: Frances Horner] and Encyclopedia Titanica. Her elder sister Cicely Horner (1883–1972), wife since 1908 of the Hon. George Lambton (1860–1945), fifth son of the [[Earl of Durham|2nd Earl of Durham]] was painted by [[John Singer Sargent]].</ref> of [[John Francis Fortescue Horner|Sir John Francis Fortescue Horner]], of [[Mells, Somerset]], descended from Thomas Horner, the Tudor figure on whom the nursery rhyme '[[Little Jack Horner]]' is sometimes said to be based.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.andrewcusack.com/2006/02/14/a-journey-to-mells/ |title=A Journey to Mells |accessdate=2012-06-24 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205072601/http://www.andrewcusack.com/2006/02/14/a-journey-to-mells/ |archivedate=5 December 2008|date=2006-02-14 }}. andrewcusack.com (14 February 2006).</ref> Her mother, [[Frances Horner|Lady Horner]] (d. 1940), was Frances Jane Graham, elder daughter of [[William Graham (Glasgow MP)|William Graham]], a rich merchant, passionate art collector, and [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] member of parliament for Glasgow.<ref>[http://www.theglasgowstory.com/image.php?inum=TGSA00012 theglasgowstory.com]</ref> Lady Horner was a notable hostess and patron of the arts, especially the [[Pre-Raphaelites]] and [[John Singer Sargent]]. The Horners had four children – Cicely (born 1883), Katharine (1885), Mark (who died in his teens), and Edward (1888).

Asquith and his wife had three children:
*Lady Helen Frances Asquith OBE (1908–2000), a school teacher and inspector who died unmarried
*Perdita Rose Mary Jolliffe, Baroness Hylton (nee Asquith) (1910–1996) who married the [[William Jolliffe, 4th Baron Hylton|4th Baron Hylton]] (d 1967)
*[[Julian Asquith, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Asquith|Julian Edward George Asquith, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Asquith]], [[Order of St Michael and St George|KCMG]] (1916–2011), nicknamed Trim, who was born a few months before his father's death on active service. The new baby was reputedly named "Trim" in honour of the Roman gourmand [[Trimalchio]], after his father saw his newborn son for the first time while on leave from the war.<ref>[[Clarissa Eden]] (2007) ''A Memoir: From Churchill to Eden''</ref>

Asquith died nearly ten years before his father was raised to the House of Lords in 1925 as [[Earl of Oxford and Asquith]]. Katharine eventually inherited [[Mells Manor]] because her younger and only surviving brother, Edward Horner, was also killed in the war.<ref name="Apollo Magazine, 7 August 2007,">{{cite web|title=Apollo Magazine, 7&nbsp;August 2007|url=http://www.apollo-magazine.com/email/april-2006/75996/dulce-et-decorum.thtml|accessdate=5 February 2008|archive-date=8 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208000715/http://www.apollo-magazine.com/email/april-2006/75996/dulce-et-decorum.thtml|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was buried in France, but his memorial in [[St Andrew's Church, Mells|St Andrew's Church]], Mells was designed by his mother's friend [[Edwin Lutyens]], who was a patron of [[Ronald Knox|Monsignor Ronald Knox]]. Katharine converted to Roman Catholicism after being widowed and became a friend of [[Siegfried Sassoon]], who also converted, following her example.<ref>[http://www.warpoets.org/events/mellsreport.htm "Mells Report"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728170606/http://www.warpoets.org/events/mellsreport.htm |date=28 July 2011 }}. Warpoets.org. Retrieved on 2012-06-24.</ref> She also remained in touch with [[Evelyn Waugh]], another convert.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2003/05/27/bodeedes27.xml&page=3 "Without Waugh, there would be no adventure – Telegraph"]{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}. Telegraph.co.uk (27 May 2003). Retrieved on 2012-06-24.</ref> 

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. K. D. Reynolds, 'Horner, Frances Jane, Lady Horner (1854/5–1940)’, first published September 2004, 580 words, with portrait illustration. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101049524/ Oxford DNB: Frances Horner (citation only)], [https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/49524 full article] available via subscription only.
* Jolliffe, John (ed.) ''Raymond Asquith: Life and Letters'' (Collins, 1980)

==External links==
*[http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp71990 Photographs of Raymond Asquith and his wife at the NPG] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930203919/http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp71990 |date=30 September 2007 }} taken by [[Lady Ottoline Morrell]].
*[http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/item/3110/ A fuller profile of Raymond Asquith] including the text of his Times obituary.
*[http://www.andrewcusack.com/blog/2006/02/a_journey_to_me.php Mells, Somerset] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070513154318/http://www.andrewcusack.com/blog/2006/02/a_journey_to_me.php |date=13 May 2007 }}

{{H. H. Asquith|state=collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asquith, Raymond}}
[[Category:1878 births]]
[[Category:1916 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Asquith family|Raymond Asquith (d. 1916)]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme]]
[[Category:English barristers]]
[[Category:Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Grenadier Guards officers]]
[[Category:Queen's Westminsters officers]]
[[Category:People educated at Winchester College]]
[[Category:People from Hampstead]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Oxford Union]]
[[Category:19th-century English lawyers]]
[[Category:Military personnel from the London Borough of Camden]]
[[Category:Children of H. H. Asquith]]
[[Category:Territorial Force officers]]