Assheton Curzon-Howe

Admiral Sir Assheton Gore Curzon-Howe KCB CMG CVO (10 August 1850 – 1 March 1911) was a British naval officer who served as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet from 1908 to 1910.

Admiral The Honourable Sir Assheton Curzon-Howe KCB, CMG, CVO
Born	10 August 1850
Died	1 March 1911(1911-03-01) (aged 60)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	c. 1865 – 1911
Rank	Admiral
Commands	Atlantic Fleet Mediterranean Fleet Portsmouth Command
Awards	Order of the Bath Royal Victorian Order Order of St Michael and St George
Spouse(s)	Alice Anne Cowell ​ (m. 1892)​
Relations	Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe (father)

Early life

Curzon-Howe was the thirteenth and youngest child of Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe, and his second wife Anne Gore (died 1877),^[1] daughter of Vice-Admiral Sir John Gore.^[2] His paternal great-grandfather was Admiral Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe.

Career

In 1894 Curzon-Howe flew his flag as Commodore on the corvette HMS Cleopatra on the North America and West Indies Station.^[3][4] By January 1900 he had been promoted captain, and was appointed in command of the battleship HMS Ocean when she was commissioned 20 February 1900 for service on the Mediterranean Station.^[5] She transferred to the China Station in January 1901, in response to the Boxer Rebellion.

Curzon-Howe was appointed a Naval Aide de Camp (ADC) to Queen Victoria in July 1899,^[6] and was re-appointed as a Naval Aide de Camp to her successor King Edward VII in February 1901.^[7] He was promoted to flag rank as rear admiral in July 1901,^[8] which ended the appointment as Naval ADC.

On 5 June 1902 he was appointed second-in-command of the Channel Squadron,^[9] and temporarily hoisted his flag on board HMS Cambridge, gunnery ship at Devonport,^[10] before he transferred to the battleship HMS Magnificent later the same month.^[11] Shortly before his departure from London he was received in audience by King Edward VII.^[12] With Magnificent, he took part in the fleet review held at Spithead on 16 August 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII,^[13] and visited the Aegean Sea for combined manoeuvres with the Mediterranean Fleet the following month.^[14] Later the same year he was appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the November 1902 Birthday Honours list,^[15] and was invested with the insignia by King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace on 18 December 1902.^[16]

He was flying his flag in HMS Caesar (Captain Sydney Fremantle) in 1906.^[17] In 1907, he was Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet.^[18] Curzon-Howe the served as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet from 1908 to 1910.^[19] He was promoted to Admiral in 1909. He was Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, from 1 May 1910 until his death, age 60, on 1 March 1911. During this time he flew his flag in HMS Victory.^{[20][unreliable source]}

Family

On 25 February 1892, at the age of 41, Assheton married Alice Anne Cowell, daughter of General Rt. Hon. Sir John Cowell. They had five children:

• Captain Leicester Charles Assheton St. John Curzon-Howe (8 July 1894 – 21 February 1941), the father of Anne Rita Curzon-Howe, who married Captain Christopher Roper-Curzon, 19th Baron Teynham.^[21]
• Victoria Alexandrina Alice Curzon-Howe (1 September 1896 – 3 February 1910)
• Assheton Penn Curzon-Howe-Herrick (21 August 1898 – 23 February 1959)
• Joyce Mary Curzon-Howe (16 July 1906 – 24 September 1997)
• Elizabeth Anne Curzon-Howe (15 November 1909 – ?)

His wife Alice died on 5 November 1948.^[22]

Assheton's elder sister, Lady Mary Curzon (1848–1929), was the great-great-grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales.^{[23][circular reference]}