Marsham-Townshend, Ferdy

"Ferdy" - as he was always known - was born on April 17th 1880, the son of Robert Marsham-Townshend in Mayfair London, Robert was the son of the 2nd Earl of Romney.In 1890 Robert inherited Chislehurst Manor from his relative the Earl of Sydney but under the terms of the will, he did not inherit the title which became extinct.

"Ferdy " attended school at Eton and Christchurch, Oxford where he took a BA in 1903 and was also keen on motoring, his father built him the Western Motor works in 1909.

A keen rider he raced horses ridden by himself in his, white , chocolate sleeves, scarlet cap colours riding altogether 12 winners over jumps , he did have a mount at the Cheltenham Festival of 1914 when he rode THE ALANT into 3rd place in the 3m Stayers hurdle.

He didn't join up immediately on the outbreak of war, receiving his commission as a 2nd Lt in a battalion of the Scots Guards in February 1915. He had only been at the front for 2 months when he was killed at Rue du Bois near Festubert on the 16th May 1915.

In Stephen Graham's book "A Private in the Guards", he refers to the incident;-

On the 16th May their Company F division had got too far ahead of the main battalion and became surrounded by German troops, the company consisting of 80 men and 2 Officers fought to the last man , refusing to surrender after the Company had received a bad name, when earlier in the month at Neuve Chappelle, Private Isaac Reid had been court martialed and shot for desertion. The men of F Company felt the sentence was too harsh and were determined to show they were not cowards. They were all killed and were found a week or so later blackened by the rain and sun surrounded by hundreds of dead Germans. A further addition to the story told whether true or not said, that the Sergeant-Major who had given evidence at Reid's trial and had pressed for the death sentence was mortally wounded at Festubert and as he lay dying the men who had blacklisted him after Reid's execution refused to give him water or aid.

Ferdy, was buried at Guards cemetery, Windy Corner, Cuinchy, France.