Sir John Leslie, 2nd Baronet

Sir John Leslie, 2nd Baronet CBE JP DL (7 August 1857 – 25 January 1944) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and baronet.[1]

Sir John Leslie, 2nd Baronet CBE, JP, DL
Lord Lieutenant of Monaghan
In office 18 March 1921 – 1922
Preceded by	Baron Rossmore
High Sheriff of Monaghan
In office 1905–1905
Preceded by	Anketell Moutray
Succeeded by	John Clements Waterhouse Madden
Personal details
Born	7 August 1857
Died	25 January 1944 (aged 86) Glaslough, Eire, Ireland
Spouse(s)	Leonie Blanche Jerome ​ ​ (m. 1884; died 1943)​
Relations	George Dawson-Damer (grandfather) Charles Powell Leslie (uncle)
Children	5
Parents	Sir John Leslie, 1st Baronet Lady Constance Dawson-Damer
Residence	Castle Leslie, County Monaghan, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Alma mater	Eton College

Early life

Leslie was born on 7 August 1857.[2] He was the only son of Sir John Leslie, 1st Baronet, and Lady Constance Wilhelmina Frances Dawson-Damer. His father was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Monaghan from 1871 to 1880 and was created a baronet in 1876.[3][4] After his father's death in January 1916, Leslie succeeded his father as the 2nd Baronet Leslie, of Glaslough.[5]

His maternal grandfather was Colonel George Lionel Dawson-Damer and his paternal uncle was Charles Powell Leslie, also a Member of Parliament.[5] His ancestor, the Right Reverend John Leslie, Bishop of the Isles, moved from Scotland to Ireland in 1633 when he was made Bishop of Raphoe in County Donegal and was subsequently made Bishop of Clogher in 1661.[2]

Career

Leslie was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards, with whom he served as a lieutenant at the Battle of Tel el Kebir in 1882, distinguishing himself under fire. After fighting in South Africa during the Second Boer War in 1900,[1] he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 5th Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers in April 1902,[6] and later became honorary colonel of the battalion.[7]

He served as High Sheriff of Monaghan in 1905 and was also a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for the county.[8] The Leslies were opposed to the Home Rule movement. Leslie led the Monaghan Militia in the 1890s and he allowed the Ulster Volunteer Force drill at the demesne in 1914.[9]

Personal life

Castle Leslie

On 2 October 1884 in New York City, with disapproval from both families, Leslie married Leonie Blanche Jerome (1859–1943), daughter of the wealthy American financier Leonard Jerome and Clarissa (née Hall) Jerome.[10] Leonie's sister was Jennie, wife of Lord Randolph Churchill and mother of Winston Churchill.[10] Leslie and his wife had four children:[2]

• Sir John Randolph Leslie, 3rd Baronet (1885–1971),[11] who married Marjorie Ide, daughter of Henry Clay Ide, the American Governor-General of the Philippines.[12]
• Captain Norman Jerome Beauchamp Leslie (1886–1914), who was killed in action in Armentières, France during World War I.[12]
• Seymour William Leslie (1889–1979), who married Gwyneth Rawdon Roden (1903–1999) in 1929.[13]
• Lionel Alistair David Leslie (1900–1987), who married Barbara Yvonne Enever in 1942.[14]

The Leslie family were one of the largest land-owning families in the late 19th century. Their holdings comprised 70,000 acres (280 km²) in counties Cavan, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Meath and Tyrone.[9] In his second autobiographical book, Lionel recounted various anecdotes about his immediate family and their home at Castle Leslie in County Monaghan.[15]

Sir John Leslie died in Glaslough, County Monaghan in Ireland on 25 January 1944.[1]

Descendants

Through his eldest son,[11] he was the grandfather of Anita Theodosia Moira Rodzianko King (1914–1985), a novelist who married Commander Bill King; Sir John Leslie, 4th Baronet (1916–2016), popularly known as Sir Jack Leslie, who never married;[12] and Desmond Arthur Leslie (1921–2001), a pilot and film maker.[16]

References

1. "COL. SIR JOHN LESLIE; Irish Baronet, 86, Wed Leonie Jerome, Aunt of Churchill" (PDF). The New York Times. 26 January 1944.
2. Mosley, Charles (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd.
3. "No. 24295". The London Gazette. 18 February 1876. p. 760.
4. Burke, John; Burke, Bernard (1842). A General Armory of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Edward Churton. p. 590.
5. "Sir John Leslie, 2nd Bt". thepeerage.com. The Peerage. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
6. "No. 27429". The London Gazette. 29 April 1902. p. 2865.
7. Melville Henry Massue marquis de Ruvigny et Raineval (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. 140. ISBN 978-0-8063-1432-7.
8. Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, The Privy Council, Knightage and Companionage. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1914. p. 1204.
9. Dooley, Terence (2001). The Decline of the Big House in Ireland. Wolfound Press Ltd. ISBN 0-86327-850-7.
10. "MISS LEONIE JEROME MARRIED TO A LIEUTENANT IN THE GRENADIER GUARDS AND THE SON OF A PEER" (PDF). The New York Times. 2 October 1884.
11. "SIR SHANE LESLIE, 89, BRITISH AUTHOR, DIES" (PDF). The New York Times. 14 August 1971.
12. "Sir John Leslie, Bt – obituary". The Telegraph. 20 April 2016.
13. Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage. Kelly's Directories. 1973. p. 1742.
14. Work Out English GCSE KS4. Macmillan International Higher Education. 2016. p. 73. ISBN 9781349138364.
15. Leslie, Lionel (1961), One Man's World. Pall Mall Press, London.
16. "Second world war veteran Sir John Leslie dies aged 99". The Irish Times. 18 April 2016.

External links

• "Leslie, Sir John" . Thom's Irish Who's Who . Dublin: Alexander Thom and Son Ltd. 1923. p. 135  – via Wikisource.