Hugh Dawnay, 8th Viscount Downe

Major-General Hugh Richard Dawnay, 8th Viscount Downe, KCVO CB CIE (20 July 1844 – 21 January 1924) was a British Army general and President of the MCC.

Background and family

Dawnay was the second son of William Dawnay, 7th Viscount Downe and his wife Mary Isabel Bagot, daughter of Richard Bagot, Bishop of Bath and Wells. His younger brother, Lewis Payn Dawnay, was MP for Thirsk.

In 1857, Dawnay succeeded his father, who died in his forties. He was educated at Eton College and attended Christ Church, Oxford.

Lord Downe married Lady Cecilia Maria Charlotte Molyneux (1838-1910), daughter of Charles Molyneux, 3rd Earl of Sefton. They had five children:

• John Dawnay, 9th Viscount Downe (1872-1831)
• Hon. Beryl Dawnay (1873-1950); married Sir Archibald Henry Campbell
• Hon. Norah Dawnay (1874-1947); unmarried
• Major Hon. Hugh Dawnay (1875-1914 †); married Lady Susan de la Poer Beresford, daughter of politician John Beresford, 5th Marquess of Waterford. They had four sons who are all career military officers, including Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and British Army general Maj-Gen Sir David Dawnay.
• Hon. Faith Dawnay (1877-1952); unmarried

After Lady Downe's death, he remarried Florence Faith Dening, who survived him.

Military and government career

Lord Downe was an officer in the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards, where he was promoted to captain on 25 June 1873. He fought in the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879, where he was mentioned in despatches. He was Lieutenant-Colonel of the 10th Hussars between 1887 and 1892. From 1899 to 1900 he served as a staff officer in the Second Boer War in South Africa, where he was deputed to accompany the military attachés representing foreign powers. He was mentioned in dispatches twice, in a despatch dated 31 March 1900 the Commander-in-Chief Lord Roberts stated that he "discharged his duties with tact and discretion". In July 1901 he was promoted to the temporary rank of Brigadier general on the Staff to command the Cavalry Brigade at the Curragh, where training for fighting in South Africa took place. In December 1901 her received the local rank of Major-general whilst so employed. He retired from the army in 1902, with the rank of Major-General.

In March 1901 Lord Downe was asked by King Edward to take part in a special diplomatic mission to announce the King´s accession to the governments of Belgium, Bavaria, Italy, Württemberg, and The Netherlands.

Cricket

A cricketer he played for I Zingari and the MCC, playing in the Aborigines v MCC test at Lord's in 1868 in the first tour of England by an Australian team. He became President of the MCC in 1872

Honors

Downe was created Baron Dawnay, of Danby in the North Riding of the County of York, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, on 24 July 1897 and subsequently sat in the House of Lords. He was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in 1886, a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1900, a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in November 1902 and a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in December 1902. His son, Major Hon. Hugh Dawnay, was killed in action in World War I near Ypres in November 1914.