OBITUARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17885, 13 September 1921, Page 5

OBITUARY.

MARQUIS OF MILFORD HAVEN.

DEATH IN LONDON CLUB. A and N.Z. LONDON, Sept 11.

The death occurred to-day of the Marquis of Milford Haven.

The Marquis was holiday-making in Scotland, and returned to London on Saturday in good health. He stayed at the Naval and Military Club in Piccadilly, and attended the theatre. He complained on Sunday morning of being unwell, and died in the afternoon at the club from heart failure following a severe attack of influenza.

No one was present when the Marquis died. , The housekeeper, after attending him, returned and found him dead. His wife and younger daughter, who were staying at a London hotel, preparatory to journeying to Paris, were summoned, but arrived too late. -Both sons of the Marquis, who are serving aboard warships, were absent. FIBST SEA LORD IN 1914. A CHIVALROUS SACRIFICE The Marquis of Miiford Haven was born at Gratz, in Austria, in 1854, and was the eldest son of Prince Alexander of Hesse. He married in 1884 his cousin, Princess Victoria, daughter of Louis IV., Grand Duke of Hesse, and of Princess Alice, Queen Victoria's daughter, and thus became a cousin by marriage of King George. Inheriting English sympathies from his mother, the Countess de Hauko, the Marquis of Miiford Haven, then Prince Louis of Battenberg. was a German for a very short space o! time. At the age of 14 he came to England, was naturalised a British subject, and entered the Navy as a cadet.

He set to work with a will to learn his profession, but he was terribly handicapped by an almost entire ignorance of tbe English language, and his difficulty in even acquiring a working knowledge of it added to all his other difficulties. Before he had reached the three years' limit of his service as a midshipman, Prince Louis resolved to withdraw from the Navy. Happily King Edward VII., then Prince of Wales, heard of his intention. The xpung midshipman was adroitly brought info his presence without having an idea why he was wanted. Then the King quietly talked the boy into having another try, and from that time took an interest in his youthful career so ts to prevent further attacks of despondency. Beyond this timely encouragement no Royal influence was exercised x>n behalf of Prince Louis, and he advanced step by step according to his merit. In 1874 he was appointed sub-lieutenant, and in 1876 lieutenant. When 31 he was promoted to i the rank of commander, and six years later ! he rose to be captain. It was not until j 1904 that he became a rear-admiral, al- j though previous to this he had done excellent service in the capacity of Director of Naval Intelligence. He also had an j opportunity of demonstrating his abilities in the Egyptian War, on the conclusion of which the Khedive's star was conferred upon him. From 1904 to 1906 he commanded the second. cruiser squadron, and then became second -in command of the Mediterranean squadron until 1908, when he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Atlantic fleet. In 1911 he was appointed to the command of the third" and fourth divisions of the Home fleet, and in the following year he attained the pinnacle of his profession, becoming First Sea Lord of the Admiralty. Two years later, however, came the I great war, and Prince Louis proved his loyalty to his adopted country by voluntarily withdrawing from control of the Navy which he had served for 48 years, and which, in the words of Mr. Winston Churchill, bore the imprint of his work. On tendering his resignation to Mr. Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, ],-© wrote: "I have latterly been driven to the painful conclusion / "that at this juncture my birth and parentage have the effect of impairing in some respects my usefulness on the Board of the Admiralty. In these circumstances. I it to be mv duty, as a loyal subject of His | Majesty, to resign the office of First Sea Lord, hoping thereby to facilitate the administration of the great service to which I have devoted my life, and to ease the burden laid upon Ministers." In 1917 Prince Louis renounced his princely title, assumed the name of Mountbatten. and was created Marquis of Milford Haven The successor to the Marqtiifafe i= (he Earl of Mrl'ina. formerly Prince George of Battenberjr. the elder of the two sons of the lat§, Marquis. The new Marquis is 29 years of age, and is a lieutenant in the Navy. He visited the Dominion aboard the battleship New Zealand in 1913. In the war he was present at the battles of Heligoland, Dogger Bank, and Jutland. In 1916 he married the second daughter i of the Grand Duke Michael of Rußsin arid Countess Torbv. His younger brother, Lord Louis Mountbatten, was in the suite of the Prince of Wales on the Prince's visit to the Dominion.