Michael Knatchbull, 5th Baron Brabourne

Born Michael Herbert Rudolf Knatchbull-Hugessen, he dropped the Hugessen part of his surname by deed poll in June 1919.[1] Knatchbull was educated at Wellington College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.

Damage from enemy anti-aircraft fire sustained by a Farman of No. 3 Squadron RNAS, flown by Reginald Marix with Lt. Knatchbull as observer, June 1915.

Knatchbull was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery on 17 November 1914.[2] He served in the Gallipoli Campaign from April 1915, attached to No. 3 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service, flying artillery spotting missions,[3] receiving promotion to lieutenant on 23 July.[4] On 22 September 1915 he received a mention in despatches from General Ian Hamilton, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force,[5] and on 8 November was awarded the Military Cross for his "distinguished service in the Field during the operations at the Dardanelles."[6]

Knatchbull was seconded to the staff to serve as an aide-de-camp on 8 June 1916,[7] serving until 20 April 1918,[8] when he was seconded to the Royal Air Force as a Staff Officer, 3rd Class.[9] He was later promoted to the acting rank of captain, and then to acting major on 11 October 1918 when appointed Staff Officer, 2nd Class (Air).[10] On 8 November 1918 he received a mention in despatches from Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig.[11]

After the end of the war, on 1 August 1919, he was granted a permanent commission in the RAF with the rank of lieutenant.[12] However, he was placed on half-pay on 1 April 1920,[13] and on 1 October was placed on the retired list on account of ill-health contracted on active service, with the rank of flight lieutenant.[14]

Knatchbull was elected Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashford in 1931 and served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Samuel Hoare, Secretary of State for India, from 1932 to 1933.

In 1933, upon his father's death, he succeeded as Baron Brabourne following which he was made Governor of Bombay and was invested as a Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire.[15]

Governor of Bengal

The grave of The 5th Baron Brabourne at St. John's Churchyard, Kolkata, India.

In 1937 he also became a Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India[16] and served as Governor of Bengal until 1939, the year he died.

On 22 January 1919, he married Lady Doreen Browne, youngest daughter of the 6th Marquess of Sligo, in St Peter's Church, Eaton Square.[17] They had two children:

• Norton Cecil Michael Knatchbull, 6th Baron Brabourne (1922–1943)
• John Ulick Knatchbull, 7th Baron Brabourne (1924–2005). In 1946 he married The Hon. Patricia Mountbatten (later 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma) and had issue.

His widow, The Dowager Lady Brabourne, was murdered in the 1979 bombing by the Provisional Irish Republican Army of The 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma's boat. One of their grandsons also died in the bombing.

• Lundy, Darryl. "ThePeerage.com His details & photo". The Peerage].
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Lord Brabourne
• "The Service of Captain Michael Knatchbull during the Gallipoli Campaign, April– June 1915 (Photograph Collection)". Imperial War Museum.