Francis Whitmore

Family home

He was the son of Thomas Whitmore, an officer in the Royal Horse Guards. Thomas had inherited Orsett Hall (in Orsett, Essex) as a result of a gambling debt incurred by the previous owner, Digby Wingfield. The estate passed to Francis on the death of his father in 1907.

Military career

Whitmore was educated at Eton and in 1892 he was commissioned into the 1st Essex Artillery Volunteers. He later transferred to the Essex Yeomanry and served in the Boer War with the Imperial Yeomanry. He served in the First World War and was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel in 1915, eventually commanding the 10th Royal Hussars. He was mentioned in despatches four times, and awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1917. In the 1918 New Year Honours list he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG). After the war he wrote The 10th (P.W.O.) Royal Hussars and the Essex Yeomanry during the European War, 1914-1918 which was published in 1920.

Sir Francis became a Justice of the Peace in 1898 and was High Sheriff of Essex in 1922. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Essex from 1936 to 1958 and was created a baronet, of Orsett, in the County of Essex in 1954.

Family life

He was married twice, first to Violet Houldsworth (d. 1927) and subsequently to Ellis Johnsen (d. 2001). He had a son and a daughter by his second wife. He was a keen traveller, including a visit to the Empire State Building in New York in 1931 when it opened. Photograph albums and scrapbooks from his travels are in the Essex Record Office.

Orsett church contains hatchments to his father and his first wife — the latter was painted by Sir Francis himself. The other hatchments in the church were restored at the expense of Sir Francis following a fire. He also painted portraits, two of which are in the Thurrock Museum.

Sir Francis died in 1962 and was buried with full military honours at Orsett parish church. The baronetcy and estate were inherited by his son, Sir John Whitmore (racing driver). He is commemorated in the name of a local pub, The Whitmore Arms. His portrait from W.W.1 hangs in the headquarters of the 70th (Essex Yeomanry) Signal Squadron. A later portrait in Lord Lieutenant's uniform by Herbert James Gunn hangs in the Shire Hall in Chelmsford - see Sir Francis Whitmore. On 10 September 2015, a Thurrock Heritage plaque was unveiled commemorating Sir Francis and other Officers and Men of the Essex Yeomanry and 10th Royal Hussars who served in the Great War.