William Franklyn (British Army officer)

Lieutenant-General Sir William Edmund Franklyn KCB (14 May 1856 – 27 October 1914) was a senior British Army officer who went on to be Military Secretary.

Sir William Franklyn
Birth name	William Edmund Franklyn
Born	14 May 1856 Ventnor, Isle of Wight, England[1]
Died	27 October 1914 (aged 58) Luton Hoo, Hertford, England
Buried	Paddington old Cemetery
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1874–1914
Rank	Lieutenant-General
Unit	Green Howards
Commands held	2nd Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment 10th Brigade 4th Division 3rd Division
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Relations	Sir Harold Franklyn (son) Lord Thorneycroft (grandson)

Early life and education

Franklyn was born in Ventnor, Isle of Wight, the eldest surviving son of Rev. Thomas Edmund Franklyn and Selina Elizabeth Hope. He was educated at Rugby School.[2]

Military career

Franklyn was commissioned into the 19th Regiment of Foot in 1874.[3] He transferred to the Yorkshire Regiment in 1881 and was appointed Deputy Assistant Adjutant General at Aldershot in 1888.[3] He was made Commanding Officer of 2nd Bn the Yorkshire Regiment and served on the North West Frontier in India in 1897.[3] He was made Assistant Adjutant General for Scottish District in 1898 and Assistant Military Secretary at Army Headquarters in 1899.[3]

He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902,[4][5] and received the decoration from King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace on 24 October 1902.[6]

He became Commander of 10th Infantry Brigade with the temporary rank of brigadier-general on 15 October 1902.[7][8] The brigade was based at Shorncliffe Army Camp serving with the 5th Division within the 2nd Army Corps. He was appointed Director of Personal Services at the War Office in 1904.[3] He went on to be General Officer Commanding 4th Division in 1906, General Officer Commanding 3rd Division in 1907[3] and Military Secretary in 1911.[9] In 1914 he was appointed Governor of Malta, despite his lack of war experience, but never took up the appointment.[10] He died later that year.[3]

He was given the colonelcy of the Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment) in 1906, a position he held until his death in 1914.[11]

Personal life

In 1881, Franklyn married Helen Williams, daughter of Edwin Williams,[2] with whom he had two sons and a daughter. He was the father of General Sir Harold Franklyn (1885−1963) and Brigadier Geoffrey Franklyn DSO MC (1889−1967).[12] His daughter, Dorothy Hope Franklyn (1883–1929), married George Edward Mervyn Thorneycroft and was the mother of politician Lord Thorneycroft.[13]

References

1. 1861 England Census
2. Burke, Sir Bernard, ed. (1914). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (76th ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 2291.
3. Sir William Edmund Franklyn Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
4. "The Coronation Honours". The Times (36804). London. 26 June 1902. p. 5.
5. "No. 27448". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 June 1902. p. 4190.
6. "Court Circular". The Times (36908). London. 25 October 1902. p. 8.
7. "Army Corps appointments". The Times (36871). London. 12 September 1902. p. 6.
8. "No. 27483". The London Gazette. 17 October 1902. p. 6569.
9. "No. 28539". The London Gazette. 6 October 1911. p. 7283.
10. Gossip & Notables The Montreal Daily Mail, 11 August 1914
11. "The Green Howards". Regiments.Org. Archived from the original on 24 October 2007. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
12. "Gen. Sir Harold Franklyn – The Dunkirk Campaign". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 1 April 1963. p. 12.
13. "Deaths". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 20 December 1929. p. 1.