crodgers Posted 16 June , 2011 Share Posted 16 June , 2011 Hi All, I am trying to locate a picture of Major-General Edward Sinclair May R.A.. If anybody has a access to a photo/illustration what they are willing to share or know where I can get one I would be very grateful. The reason for my request? In a moment of weakness I acquired a old silver plated teapot made by Mappin Brothers with an inscription that reads - Tent Pegging - Officers, won by Lieut.E. S. May R.H.A. Exeter Aug.11th 1883. After a bit of research I was able to determine that the Lieut. E. S.May R.H.A engraved on the side of the Tea Pot was in fact Major-General Sir Edward Sinclair May and he won this trophy when he was pretty fresh out of the Royal Military Academy. I would love to put a face to the name so please let me know if you can help. If you have any other information I would love to add it to my collection. I have the extracts from the London Gazette and an obitury notice from the Times from 1936 Thanks in advance Cam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATNOMIS Posted 16 June , 2011 Share Posted 16 June , 2011 Hi All, I am trying to locate a picture of Major-General Edward Sinclair May R.A.. If anybody has a access to a photo/illustration what they are willing to share or know where I can get one I would be very grateful. The reason for my request? In a moment of weakness I acquired a old silver plated teapot made by Mappin Brothers with an inscription that reads - Tent Pegging - Officers, won by Lieut.E. S. May R.H.A. Exeter Aug.11th 1883. After a bit of research I was able to determine that the Lieut. E. S.May R.H.A engraved on the side of the Tea Pot was in fact Major-General Sir Edward Sinclair May and he won this trophy when he was pretty fresh out of the Royal Military Academy. I would love to put a face to the name so please let me know if you can help. If you have any other information I would love to add it to my collection. I have the extracts from the London Gazette and an obitury notice from the Times from 1936 Thanks in advance Cam Cam I have The Great War Mag (the whole collection) he might be in the Mag. Please give me a time to go over the Mags. If you have any idea what theatre he served It might pin down the Volume. Regards Simon Maj.-Gen. Sir Edward Sinclair May gained the rank of Major-General in the service of the Royal Artillery.He lived at Devon, England.He was invested as a Knight Commander, Order of the Bath (K.C.B.).He was invested as a Companion, Order of St. Michael and St. George (C.M.G.). Children of Maj.-Gen. Sir Edward Sinclair May Evelyn Mary Aylmer May+ d. 28 Mar 1929 Olivia Douglas Sinclair May+2 d. 26 Aug 1964 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATNOMIS Posted 16 June , 2011 Share Posted 16 June , 2011 MAY, Major-Gen. Sir Edward Sinclair,K.C.B., C.M.G. Cr. 1918. Eldest son of the Right Hon. George Augustus Chichester May, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, who d.1892, by Olivia, who d. 1876, 4th dau. of Sir Matthew Barrington, 2nd Bart. ; b. 1856; m. 1st 1883 Evelyn Mary Norbrun, who d. 1893, 3rd dau. of the late Trehawke Kekewich, Esq., D.L,, of Peamore, Devon ; 2ndly 1895 Charlotte Dorothea Willie, dau. of the late Gen. Sir William Stirling, K.C.B. Sir Edward May, who was educated at Rugby and at the E. Mil. Academy, Woolwich, is a Major-Gen. ret., late R.A. ; was Professor of Mil. Art and History at the Staff Coll. 1901-3 ; Assistant Director Mil. Training Depart-ment, Headquarters, 1903-7; A.Q.M.G. Irish Command 1907-8 ; Brigadier-Gen., on the Gen. Staff there 1908-13, and in command of Presidency Brigade, Calcutta, 1913-14, and of Lueknow Div.1914-18. liockbeare Court, 8. Devon ; Naval and Military Club, w. ; Atkcn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daggers Posted 16 June , 2011 Share Posted 16 June , 2011 With May's Gunner background, it would be surprising if our invaluable member Dick Flory does not have more about him. D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Posted 17 June , 2011 Share Posted 17 June , 2011 I do have a warmly written letter to him from Tommy Capper, when General May was at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crodgers Posted 17 June , 2011 Author Share Posted 17 June , 2011 Hi all, Here is a couple of photos of the Teapot ..... Cam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rflory Posted 17 June , 2011 Share Posted 17 June , 2011 Major E S May, RA as Professor of Topography at RMA Woolwich in 1894. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rflory Posted 17 June , 2011 Share Posted 17 June , 2011 I should have mentioned that the Royal Artillery Institution Library at Woolwich has a medium-size photo of May. Regards, Dick Flory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crodgers Posted 26 June , 2011 Author Share Posted 26 June , 2011 G'day Dick, Thankyou very much for taking the time to reply. I appreciate the picture. Am I right in saying that the photo looks as if it is part of a larger group photo. I suppose don't you remember where you got the photo. I would love to try and get a bigger vesion Ta Cam] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippo Posted 26 June , 2011 Share Posted 26 June , 2011 Sorry to say this but it's a hot water jug or coffee pot NOT a teapot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crodgers Posted 26 June , 2011 Author Share Posted 26 June , 2011 Huh....I did not know that. That's for letting me know. Still looking for another photo if anybody knows where one might be hiding. Dick has been a great help. Thanks....I have heard back from the the Museum re a photo and unfortunately they were unable to assist. On closer inspection on the handle (see photos) there are two rings of either bone or ivory. Kind Regards Cam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daggers Posted 26 June , 2011 Share Posted 26 June , 2011 Those rings are meant to insulate the gripping part of the handle from the heat in the pot. D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crodgers Posted 20 July , 2011 Author Share Posted 20 July , 2011 For those that are interested here are a few photo of Major-General Sir Edward Sinclair May .....the National Portrait Gallery has come to my rescue..... Cam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATNOMIS Posted 21 July , 2011 Share Posted 21 July , 2011 Great Pics. Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgan 108 Posted 24 August , 2015 Share Posted 24 August , 2015 Maj-Gen E S May was the Bty Commander Of "T" Battery RHA of which i was a battery sergeant major,He served from 1896-9 here is a photo of him as a Major in service dress hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crodgers Posted 1 September , 2015 Author Share Posted 1 September , 2015 That's brilliant. Thanks for taking the time to reply. I will add it to my collection. Cam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crodgers Posted 2 September , 2015 Author Share Posted 2 September , 2015 I realised I never put up the write up I have on Major-General Sir Edward May, K.C.B, C.M.G. so here it is. He was one of a distinguished family, many members of which rose to eminence in their professions. The eldest son of the Right Hon. George May, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Edward Sinclair May was born on February 1, 1856, and was broght up in Dublin. His later education was received at Rugby and at the Royal Military Academy, where the prince Imperial was a fellow cadet. May was gazetted lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in January, 1875, gained his captaincy at the end of 1883, and two years later returned to the Royal Military Academy as instructer in military topography. Later he added tactics, military law, and administration to his subjects and in 1891 was appointed ‘professor’ (chief instructor), obtaining his majority in that year. In 1895 he returned to soldiering to raise a new field battery. He had already contributed many articles on tactics and military history to the Service journals, and published in book form “Achievements in Field Artillery”. This was followed by “Guns and Cavalry”(1896) and “field Artillery with the Other Arms” (1898). At this time, when very little was being written on tactics and training, his work received considerable attention and roused the keen interest of Sir Evelyn Wood. At the Beginning of the South African war Major May was sent out with an ammunition column he had just formed and reached natal eith it in time to be present at the action of Lombard’s Kop. He was at Ladysmith during the siege and afterwards commanded the artillery of Hildyard’s 5th Division during the operations which cleared northern natal, including the capture of Botha’s Pass. In 1900 he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, and when he left South Africa early in the following year he had been created C.M.G. On his way home he wrote “A Retrospect of the South African War”. He was now selected for a professorship at the Staff College, although he had never been there as a student, and in December, 1903, being promoted full Colonel, was appointed Assistant Adjutant-General for Military Education and Training at the War Office. He had previously published “Priciples and problems of Imperial Defence,” based on lectures delivered at Camberley and at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. From 1905 to 1907 he worked under the Haldane regime, and saw the creation of the Territorial Force. He was made C.B. in 1906. On leaving the War Office in December 1907, he went to the irish Command as Assistant Quartermaster General, becoming Brigadier General, General Staff less than a year later. While in Ireland he published his “Introduction to Imperial Geography”. His promotion to Major-General came on January 1, 1911. In the following April, at the termination of his Irish staff appointment, he went on half pay and continued so for two years. Then he was sent out to India to command the Presidency Brigade in Calcutta. Later he succeeded to the command of the 8th Lucknow Division, retiring from the Service, when he reached the age limit, on August 18, 1918, having been created K.C.B. Sir Edwards’s first wife, whom he married in 1883, was Evelyn, daughter of Mr Trehawke Kekewich, of Peamore, Devon. She died 10 years later and in 1895 he married Dorothea, daughter of General Sir William Stirling, K.C.B. In India Sir Edward had been Chief Commissioner of Boy Scouts and after his retirement became County Commissioner for Devon. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem. In 1925 he published his reminiscences under the title “Changes and Chances of a Soldiers Life’. Sir Edward May died at Rockbeare Court, Devon, at the age of 80 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgan 108 Posted 14 September , 2015 Share Posted 14 September , 2015 Thats great i have a favour to ask, At present i am doing a feature on past battery commanders and have spent a great deal of time looking for an image of Major robert st clair Lecky who went on to become a maj-gen in the royal artillery during the great war do you think you could use your experience to help me try and get one or point me in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BereniceUK Posted 8 February , 2021 Share Posted 8 February , 2021 (edited) crodgers, if you're still looking for photos of him, here's one from his funeral. Best image I could get, I'm afraid - it's from the local paper's report. The bearers were from the 23rd Field Brigade Artillery at Topsham Barracks, Exeter. The bearer party was in the charge of Sergeant-Major Cranford - would that be him at front left? Edited 8 February , 2021 by BereniceUK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Bennitt Posted 8 February , 2021 Share Posted 8 February , 2021 (edited) Missed this thread when it first went round but it’s got me thinking if Gen. Sinclair May was a distant relative of mine by marriage. Mabel Bennitt, one of the Devon branch of my family, married Colin McGregor Arthur/Edward May, born August 15, 1864 in Plymouth. They had a son, Sinclair Bennitt May, who emigrated to Australia and was killed at Broodseinde in 1917. Was the general the lad’s uncle, perhaps? But, on a recheck, it seems not : I have Colin May’s father as Charles, not George. But then, Mabel’s brother Harry Pynson Bennitt was gazetted 2nd Lieutenant in the Devon Artillery in 1899, two years after his sister’s marriage. It would have been nice to speculate on the general’s influence there. Harry died of wounds received at Loos with the 7th Seaforths. Cheers Martin B Edited 8 February , 2021 by Martin Bennitt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crodgers Posted 8 February , 2021 Author Share Posted 8 February , 2021 Hi there Yes I am always looking to add photos to my research. I really appreciate you posting the photo Kind Regards Cam BTW I still have the jug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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