Howard Avenel Bligh St. George

[Viktoria]

Just managed to bring up the stained glass window in Zillebeke church which H.A.B.St. G`s mother had installed in his memory.
 I just put in " Zillebeke church , stained glass".
It is lovely, St George as you would imagine, but there are so many --- don`t know the correct name--- arms, escutcheons ? The family must be titled and with a long history.
One sheild has" Avenel " underneath ,well you can see for yourself. Just thought I`d pass that on.
There seem to be a lot of people writing biographies about him. Viktoria.

[James1957]

I am thinking of going over to Zillebeke at some point on my motorbike - Avenal's life was pretty short so not sure how much of a bio one could produce.  Sadly the picture has passed away form the family and I don't know who now owns it.  Orpen was very closely involved with our family (see  Bruce Arnold's biography of Orpen) so it would have been painted with feeling.   I imagine he was known as  "Avenal" because his father was Howard - so they probably used his second name - what ever the reason he was definitely Avenal rather than Howard.  To my regret and embarrassment I don't know as much as I should about the St George family in Ireland so beyond what I have written I am not sure I can help.   

[Viktoria]

Hello Jerry, just ordered your book--- well that`s a lie, my son has just orderd the book for me.
 Have you a photo of Avenel ? It seems that what I took as a photo may in fact be a painting done after H.A.B.St.G died . So how accurate it is I don`t know. I should imagine it`s a good likeness if it was painted by Orphen, who was in a relationship with Avenel`s mother. It seems to have been accepted as a family portrait.
Looking forward to getting the book. Kind regards . Viktoria.

P.S. I think it would be interesting to have a photo of Avenel posted on this site, as there has been so much interest in him. I don`t know how to do that.V

[crdstgeorge]

Hi there,

I'm distantly related to this fellow.  I believe this is the person being spoken about here, references to Burke's peerage:

http://www.thepeerage.com/p56876.htm

Regards,
Christian

[Viktoria]

 Thankyou Christian, I can recommend the book "Aristocrats go to war" ISBN184884152-3 by Pen and Sword books. www.pen-and-sword.co.uk     Written by Jerry Murland.
 Your relative is mentioned , his background , family , circumstances of his death and the place where  he is buried ,which has interred there quite a number of aristocrats  killed n the early days of  the 1914 war. You will also find the picture of him which so fascinated me.
 I wish I knew how to post photographs, I think other rootschatters who have answered these post would  perhaps be interested to see him. Viktoria.

[gallipolianzac]

James, I suspect you are not spelling 'Avenal' quite correctly. It is spelt Avenel and his full name was Howard Avenel Bligh St George.

[JBarry]

Hi Jerry, I am interested in Howard Avenel Bligh St. George, I have purchased and read your excellent book, it may interest you to know that I have a picture of his grave at Zillebeke, it was taken showing one of his regiment tending the grave and sent to his mother to comfort her, She wrote a quote beneath it which say's "In that rich earth a richer dust contained"

[Viktoria]

 Gosh that is an interesting photo-when would it be dated do you think, not sure when his mother died.
 I too have visited Zillebeke churchyard , and seen his grave. We were very sorry we could not gain access to the church to see the St.George window donated by his mother.
Our usual hotel, The Ariane in Ypres was full and  so we enquired about others.
 We stayed at the Hoogh Chateau Hotel  which was a temporary replacement for the big chateau but that was never re-built by Baron Vink .                                                                           Had I known at the time where Avenel Howard  Bligh St. George was killed  we would have made a point of at least walking the stretch of road.. but it was just  that I saw a thin book about him, in the bookshop at the museum in the cloth hall.The photo fascinated me, but I`d already spent a lot on books so did not buy it ,much to my subsequent regret. He led me on a long search and at last RootsChat came up trumps. I was so pleased to have" Aristocrats Go To War".
 What fine young men they were, someone said " we will not see their like again"  I`m not sure about that--- there have been  many fine young men since, but there did seem something  special about them.
 One of the books I boughts was " Kastelen en Landhuizen in Groot Ieper" which tells of all the lovely castles ( like French chateaux, not ours like Caernarvon, Warwick etc)
which were used as headquarters by  both sides and so shelled,  many totally destroyed.  Some rebuilt but much more modestly. Others lost forever as Hooghe /Bellewarde.
 Is it possible to put the photo on RootsChat? Anyway thanks for your post which although addressed to Jerry will be of great interest to others too. Viktoria.

[JBarry]

Hi Viktoria
The hand written dedication "In that rich earth a richer dust contained" has been taken as a part quote from 'The Soldier' by Rupert Brooke, his verse reads “In that rich earth a richer dust concealed”

Rupert Brookes Poem 'The Soldier' was the last in a sonnet sequence entitled '1914'. they were first published in January of 1915

On April 4, 1915, Dean Inge of St. Paul's Cathedral read a sonnet from the pulpit as part of his Easter Sunday sermon. The sermon was published in The Times the next day, so my thoughts would be, that the picture was dedicated then framed, after April 4th 1915.

The Framed Photograph shows Howard Avenel Bligh St George’s original Grave which was prepared with a lot of thought, kindness and respect, it had a Celtic cross with his full name on it, a boundry of white painted stones and 6 pillars set inside the stones each attached to it’s neighbour by a length of chain, the cross and plot residing within the pillars, the soldier leaning over it tending the Plot within, was an incredibly thoughtful touch, to the photograph, this was a well loved young officer, and I believe his brother officers paid tribute to him in, creating this comfort for his Mother, as Jerry’s book states, The Church which is also shown in the photograph and the Cemetery were shelled, destroying the church and this Grave.
Regards Jim