ENDNOTES
1 The Rt Hon Sir Alfred Wills PC QC (1828-1912) presided over Regina v. Wilde; Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), was sentenced on 25th May 1895 to two years hard labour for multiple acts of gross indecency with post boys whilst London’s aristocratic gay community decamped to Paris until the storm of public outrage arising from the trial blew over.
2 Dr Leander Starr Jameson (1853-1917).
3 See The Speedicut Papers: Book 6 (Vitai Lampada).
4 Editor’s Note: As well as working for Speedicut, Frederick Searcy owned the eponymous catering company which he had established in 1847. See The Speedicut Papers: Book 1 (Flashman’s Secret).
5 Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928), co-founder in 1889 of the Women’s Franchise League.
6 The Dunottar Castle was built in 1890 at the Goven shipyards.
7 Editor’s Note: Speedicut had met Jameson at Pratt’s earlier in 1895. See The Speedicut Papers: Book 7 (Royal Scandals).
8 The Rt Hon Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902).
9 Major General Sir Herbert Kitchener (1850-1916).
10 Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (1825-1904).
11 Editor’s Note: John Company was the nickname for the Honourable East India Company, established by Royal Charter in 1600 to manage the development of Britain’s interests in India. It assets were transferred to the Crown in 1858 after the Indian Mutiny.
12 George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon (1827-1909), Secretary of State for the Colonies 1892-1895.
13 Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (1847-1929), Liberal Prime Minister 1894-1895; Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (1830-1903); Joseph Chamberlain (1836-1914).
14 Editor’s Note: Lord Salisbury’s coalition government was formed on 24th June 1895, which would indicate that the Speedicuts arrived in Cape Colony at the end of that month.
15 Rhodes acquired the Groote Schuur estate in 1891 and had the house rebuilt to a design by Herbert Baker (1862-1946).
16 Philip Jourdan (1870-1961).
17 Henry Currey (1863-1945).
18 HRH The Prince of Wales (1841-1910).
19 Alfred Beit (1853-1906).
20 See The Speedicut Papers: Book 5 (Suffering Bertie).
21 Colonel Francis Rhodes CB DSO (1850-1905).
22 Sir Hercules Robinson, later 1st Baron Rosmead (1824-1897), was a ‘doddering, dropsy-inflicted, clearly compliant, aging sycophant who was almost literally in Rhodes’ pocket and could be counted upon to do his bidding’, The Founder by Robert Rotberg, OUP 1988.
23 Colonel Francis William Rhodes (1850-1905).
24 Editor’s Note: I assume Speedicut was referring to Chief Ikaneng and Chief Montshiwa.
25 Barney Barnato (1851-1897).
26 ‘Floatation’ was the code name for the uprising.
27 Editor’s Note: Speedicut was born on 20th December 1821.
28 Editor’s Note: Jameson had an exaggerated belief in the power of a Maxim gun.
29 See The Speedicut Papers: Book 6 (Suffering Bertie).
30 ‘Put your hands in the air, kaffir filth.’
31 Commandant (later General) Pieter Arnoldus Cronjé (1836-1911).
32 William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898).
33 HIM Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941), King of Prussia, Emperor of Germany and grandson of Queen Victoria.
34 Editor’s Note: I think that Speedicut is referring here to Princess Catherine Radziwill (1858-1941), who he and Lady Charlotte-Georgina had met in Cape Town in 1880: see The Speedicut Papers: Vitai Lampada (Book 6).
35 Tsar Nicholas II (1868-1918) was crowned on 26th May 1896.
36 See The Speedicut Papers: Book 4 (Where Eagles Dare).
37 Field Marshal the Viscount Wolseley KP GCB (1833-1913) had been appointed Commander-in-Chief on 1st November 1895 in succession to Field Marshal HRH The Duke of Cambridge.
38 See The Speedicut Papers: Book 4 (Where Eagles Dare).
39 Editor’s Note: Historians disagree about whether the Umlimo (also known as the Mlimo or the M’limo) was one particular man or referred to various priests of the Ndebele.
40 Frederick Selous (1851-1917).
41 Albert, 4th Earl Grey (1851-1917) & Colonel (later Field Marshal) Herbert Plumer (1857-1932).
42 Major General Sir Frederick Carrington KCMG (1844-1913).
43 Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941).
44 Editor’s Note: for readers fresh to The Speedicut Papers, the Nehemiah – or The Society of the Mysteries of Nehemiah to give it its full name, was a society of butlers and gentlemen’s gentlemen to which Frederick Searcy belonged.
45 Waterman’s first patent was granted in 1884.
46 The Mauser C96 machine pistol, known as the ‘Broom Handle’ because of its detachable stock, was first produced in 1896. It was the young Winston Churchill’s preferred personal protection weapon.
47 Father Ivan Nikolaievich Stragorodsky (1867-1944), later Pariarch of Moscow.
48 Editor’s Note: Speedicut is wrong - Kitchener didn’t knit but he was an enthusiastic tatter, a hobby he shared with King Edward VIII, King George VI and the Dukes of Gloucester and Kent, the sons of King George V who were all taught to tat by their mother, Queen Mary.
49 Frederick Russell Burnham (1861-1947).
50 Brevet Major General George Custer (1839-1876). See The Speedicut Papers: Book 3 (Uncivil Wars).
51 Editor’s Note: I assume that Speedicut meant ‘Birnam Wood’ and ‘Dunsinane’ in a further reference to Macbeth.
52 Editor’s Note: Speedicut was correct in his prediction of the outcome of both enquiries.
53 Marcia, Countess of Yarborough (1863-1926) petitioned for and, in 1891, was granted in her own right the Barony of Conyers following the death of her father without male issue in 1888.
54 Editor’s Note: As a young man, Speedicut had been forcibly circumcised by the Emir of Bokhara’s Vizier as a prelude to converting to Islam; see The Speedicut Papers: Book 1 (Flashman’s Secret).
55 Tsar Alexander III, Tsar of All the Russias (1845-1894).
56 See The Speedicut Papers: Book 7 (Royal Scandals).
57 Patum Peperium, otherwise known as Gentleman’s Relish, is an anchovy paste created in 1828. Its recipe remains a closely guarded secret.
58 Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (1872-1918) was born HRH Princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt & by Rhine.
59 Editor’s Note: Princess Alix of Hesse was engaged to the Tsarevich before the death of his father, Tsar Alexander III, and married – at the new Tsar’s insistence – a few days after the old Tsar’s funeral. It was taken by many Russians as a bad omen for the reign of Tsar Nicholas II.
60 Matilde Kschessinska (1872-1971) was for many years the principal star of the Imperial Ballet. Not only was she the mistress of the Tsarevich Nicholas for six years but later (or possibly at the same time) two Grand Dukes one of whom, Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich (1879-1956), she married in 1921 becoming Her Serene Highness Princess Romanova-Krasinskya.
61 HRH The Duke of York (1865-1936), at this time the Heir Presumptive to the British crown. Contemporary photographs show that the cousins looked remarkably similar.
62 HIH Grand Duke Serge Alexandrovich of Russia (1857-1905); he was married, childless and rumoured to be homosexual.
63 Gustave Lannes, Marquis de Montebello (1838-1907) was the grandson of Napoleon’s Marshal Lannes.
64 Jenny (Jeanette), Lady Randolph Churchill née Jenny Jerome (1854-1921); see The Speedicut Papers: Book 7 (Royal Scandals). Lord Randolph Churchill had died of syphilis on 24th January 1895.
65 Prince Karl Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau (1858-1919), was at this time the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador in London.
66 Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965).
67 Paget’s Irregular Horse was the nickname of the 4th (Queen’s Own) Hussars.
68 Major General Sir Bindon Blood KCB (1842-1940).
69 See The Speedicut Papers: Book 1 (Flashman’s Secret), Book 3 (Uncivil Wars), Book 6 (Vitai Lampada) & Book 7 (Royal Scandals).
70 General Sir Robert Low GCB (1838-1911). The campaign is known to history as the Chitral Expedition.
71 Editor’s Note: I assume that this is a reference to Mohammad Ahmad (1844-1885), otherwise known as The Mahdi, and the death of Gordon of Khartoum (1833-1885) in which Speedicut was intimately involved; see The Speedicut Papers: Book 7 (Royal Scandals).
72 Editor’s Note: In his autobiography, My Early Life, Sir Winston Churchill states that he extracted a promise from Sir Bindon Blood in 1896 to include Churchill in his next expedition but that it was only in July 1897, when the Malakand Expedition was launched and Churchill asked Blood to make good on his promise, that Blood proposed that Churchill join the Malakand Field Force as a war correspondent. Churchill quotes Blood’s telegram of July 1897: ‘VERY DIFFICULT STOP NO VACANCIES STOP COME UP AS A CORRESPONDENT STOP WILL TRY TO FIT YOU IN STOP BB’. Churchill does admit, however, that it was his mother who arranged his contracts with The Pioneer and The Daily Telegraph…
73 See The Speedicut Papers: Book 4 (Where Eagles Dare).
74 Editor’s Note: The only extant record of Speedicut’s involvement in Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee is a postcard; see The Speedicut Papers: Book 7 (Royal Scandals).
75 Editor’s Note: As existing readers of The Speedicut Papers will know, Algy St Albion, the illegitimate heir of the multi-millionaire Marquess of Steyne, was a long-standing friend of Speedicut’s and a fellow Tenth Hussar.
76 Lieutenant Colonel Sir Arthur Bigge KCB CMG (1849-1931), later 1st Baron Stamfordham.
77 Alfred Austin (1835-1913).
78 William Waldorf Astor (1848-1919) took British citizenship in 1899 and acquired The Observer in 1911. In 1916 he was created Baron Astor of Hever and then, the following year, elevated to Viscount Astor.
79 Hugh Grosvenor (1825-1899), 1st Duke of Westminster.
80 HRH Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught (1850-1942), was the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria.
81 Editor’s Note: Oscar Wilde was transferred from Reading Gaol to Pentonville Prison from where, on 19th May 1897, he was released and given refuge for one night by The Reverend Stewart Headlam (1847-1924). Wilde left the next day for the Continent and never returned.
82 Major General Sir Henry Ewart
83 Editor’s Note: The Tenth Hussars and the 2nd Life Guards referred to each other as the ‘Second Battalion’; the ‘Donkey Wallopers’ is a generic nickname for the Regiments of the Household Cavalry.
84 The Very Reverend Robert Gregory (1819-1911).
85 See The Speedicut Papers: Book 7 (Royal Scandals).
86 Field Marshal Lord Roberts of Kandahar VC, KG, KP, etc (1832-1914), known as ‘Bobs’.
87 HRH The Princess of Wales (1844-1925); HRH The Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (1846-1923) was born Princess Helena and was the third daughter and fifth child of Queen Victoria.
88 See The Speedicut Papers: Book 5 (Suffering Bertie).
89 Editor’s Note: The French film company, Lumière, who were early pioneers of cinema, had a camera located at St George’s Circus in Southwark and – amongst other cinema pioneers - filmed the Diamond Jubilee Procession and later screened it at the Paris Cinematograph Theatre, Leicester Square.
90 The Right Reverend and Right Honourable Mandell Creighton (1843-1901).
91 Louisa Cavendish (1832-1911); HRH Princess Louise of Prussia, Duchess of Connaught (1860-1917); Lady Colebrooke (1863- 1944); Daisy, Princess of Pless (1873-1943); Lady Lillian Spenser-Churchill (1873-1951) & Lady Nora Spencer-Churchill (1875-1946).
92 Editor’s Note: I think Speedicut is referring to Paul Poiret (1879-1944) who started his design career around this time, later moving to Worth before establishing his own fashion house in 1903.
93 7th Lord Rodney (1857-1909) wore a fourteenth-century suit of armour and chain mail.
94 Sir John Gorst (1835-1916) was at that time Vice President of the Committee on Education.
95 Editor’s Note: I have verified Speedicut’s account of Churchill’s views, which are contained in his works My Early Life and The Story of The Malakand Field Force.
96 Louisa, Duchess of Devonshire (1832-1911) was born Countess von Alten and was married until his death to the 7th Duke of Manchester (1823-1890), hence her nickname. The 8th Duke of Devonshire, who had for many years before Manchester’s death been Louisa’s lover, was notoriously lethargic by nature.
97 See The Speedicut Papers: Book 1 (Flashman’s Secret).
98 Reuben Sassoon (1835-1905) was actually dressed as a Persian Prince; Georgina, Countess of Dudley (1846-1929); HH Prince Victor Duleep Singh (1866-1918); Luis, 1st Marquis de Soveral (1851-1922) was the Portugese Ambassador.
99 Mrs Arthur Paget (1853-1919); Lady de Grey, later Marchioness of Ripon (1859-1917); Mrs Herbert Asquith, later Countess of Oxford & Asquith (1864-1945); Mrs Hope-Vere (1880-1946).
100 Editor’s Note: The Countess of Westmorland (1871-1910) was dressed as Hebe, goddess of youth, as depicted by Sir Joshua Reynolds.
101 Editor’s Note: I assume that Speedicut is referring here to The Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Magic Flute; Lady Gerard; Lady Doreen Long, later Viscountess Long.
102 Mary ‘Fanny’ Ronalds (1839-1916) was an American socialite, singer and the long-term mistress of the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900); she was a noted performer of Sullivan’s Lost Chord and was buried with a signed manuscript. On her costume for the Ball, appropriately, she had part of the score of Verdi’s Un ballo in Maschera.
103 The de Coucel sisters were the daughters of the French Ambassador, Alphonse Chodron de Courcel (1835-1919).
104 King Ludwig II of Bavaria (1845-1886) and Richard Wagner (1813-1883).
105 Editor’s Note: The Royal party comprised TRH The Prince & Princess of Wales, dressed as the Grand Prior of Order of St John of Jerusalem and Marguerite de Valois; TRH The Duke & Duchess of York, dressed as Elizabethan aristocrats; the Duchess of York’s mother, HRH Princess Mary-Adelaide of Teck, dressed as her ancestress, the Electress Sophia of Hanover; and the Wales’ daughters, HRH Princesses Victoria, HRH Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife, and HRH Princess Maud of Wales (Princess Charles of Denmark) along with their husbands, all dressed as Elizabethan courtiers.
106 Editor’s Note: The ‘Courts’ were those of Elizabeth I, led by Lady Tweedmouth; Louis XIV - XVI, led by the Countess of Warwick; Maria Theresa, led by the Marchioness of Londonderry; and Catherine the Great led by Viscountess Raincliffe. Originally there were supposed to be five Courts but the fifth, the Court of King Arthur, led by Lady Chesham and including her close relations the Duke & Duchess of Westminster, the Marquess & Marchioness of Ormonde and Lord & Lady Butler, had to be cancelled when nine-year-old Marjorie Cavendish, daughter of Lord & Lady Chesham, died in a riding accident on the day of the Ball. The ‘Groups’ were ‘Italians’, which rather strangely included all the characters from history and literature not in the Courts, and ‘Orientals’ led by the Duchess of Devonshire herself, which embraced characters from antiquity, classical literature and anyone not in the other categories.
107 Editor’s Note: The menu comprised hot and cold consommé, devilled chicken, roast quails, crab remoulade, salmon mousse, chicken in mayonnaise, noisettes of lamb, ortalans in aspic, mixed sandwiches, Algerian tomatoes, potato salad, strawberries and cream, ice cream, patisseries and a fruit salad…
108 Frances ‘Daisy’ Brooke, Countess of Warwick (1861-1938).
109 See The Speedicut Papers: Book 7 (Royal Scandals).
110 Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox (1818-1903), 6th Duke of Richmond & Lennox and 1st Duke of Gordon.
111 Editor’s Note: I don’t believe Oscar Wilde ever said that; Speedicut has conflated two sayings, one by Burns the other by Shakespeare.
112 The Young Soldier from Barrack-Room Ballads by Rudyard Kipling, first published in 1892.
113 See The Speedicut Papers: Book 6 (Vitai Lampada).
114 Lieutenant the Lord Fincastle, later 8th Earl of Dunmore (1872-1962), although serving in the 16th Lancers was on duty in the Upper Swat Valley as a correspondent for The Times. He and Lieutenant Colonel Robert Adams of the Guides, with others, rescued the wounded Lieutenant R T Greaves of the Lancashire Fusiliers who was about to be hacked to death by tribesmen. Both officers were later awarded the Victoria Cross, Fincastle being the only journalist ever to have been so honoured.
115 Editor’s Note: In previously published accounts of this incident it was Blood who was the object of the attack.
116 The Buffs was the official nickname of the Royal East Kent Regiment (originally the 3rd Regiment of Foot). They were the British Army component of the 2nd Brigade MFF.
117 ‘Fast Black’ is Army slang for a mounted messenger and refers to the horse not the man; Brigadier General Patrick Jeffreys CB (1848-1922), Brigade Commander, 2nd Brigade MFF
118 Captain E H Cole (dates unknown), 11th Bengal Lancers.
119 Lieutenant Colonel F G Vivian (dates unknown), Commanding Officer of the 38th Dogra Regiment.
120 Colonel Goldney (dates unknown) was Second-in-Command of the 2nd Brigade, MFF.
121 Major G P Campbell (dates unknown).
122 Lieutenant Victor Hughes (? – 1898), 35th Sikh Regiment.
123 Captain W J Ryder (dates unknown), 35th Sikh Regiment.
124 Editor’s Note: I have not been able to track down Churchill’s dispatch, perhaps because it was never sent. However, a very similar account appears in Churchill’s The Story of The Malakand Field Force.
125 Major J F Worlledge (dates unknown), 35th Sikh Regiment.
126 General Sir William Lockhart KCSI (1841-1900).
127 Captain (later General Sir) Aylmer Haldane (1862-1950), Gordon Highlanders
128 Colonel (later General Sir) Ian Hamilton (1853-1947).
129 Brigadier General (later Field Marshal & 1st Baron) William Nicholson CB (1845-1918).
130 William Courtney (1850-1928). Courtney became editor of the Fortnightly Review in 1894. The journal had been founded by Anthony Trollope and, before Courtney, was edited by Frank Harris. It was one of the most influential British publications of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It ceased publication in 1954.
131 Prince von Bismarck died on 30th July 1898.
132 Count Nicholai Pavlovitch Ignatiev (1832-1908) was probably Speedicut’s most long-standing enemy.
133 Lieutenant Colonel Lord William Bereford VC (1847-1900).
134 Major the Hon Sir Schomberg MacDonnell (1861-1915), Private Secretary to the Prime Minister.
135 See The Speedicut Papers: Book 7 (Royal Scandals).
136 Lady Charlotte-Georgina’s elder sister, Lady Charlotte-Elizabeth, had married Sidney Hadfield – a Cockney music hall singer - in 1858 and been struck out of the family Bible; she died in 1888. See: The Speedicut Papers: Book 3 (Uncivil Wars) & Book 7 (Royal Scandals).
137 Muhammad Ahmad (1845-1885) known as The Mahdi; Abdallahi ibn Muhammad (1846-1899) also known as Abdullah al-Taashi.
138 See The Speedicut Papers: Book 7 (Royal Scandals).
139 Lieutenant (later Admiral of the Fleet Earl) Beatty DSO (1871-1936).
140 Sir Evelyn Baring (1841-1917) later 1st Earl of Cromer, was the British Consul General in Egypt and its effective ruler.
141 Rudolf (later Freiherr von) Slatin (1857-1932).
142 Major (later General Sir) Reginald Wingate (1861-1953).
143 King Menelik of Shoa (1844-1913) later Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia.
144 Editor’s Note: As readers may recall, Speedicut nearly perished in the Sabaluka Gorge whilst escaping from Khartoum with Lieutenant Colonel John Stewart in 1884. See The Speedicut Papers: Book 7 (Royal Scandals).
145 Lieutenant Colonel Roland Martin (dates unknown).
146 Major (later Major General) the Hon Edward Montagu-Stuart-Wortley (1857-1934). See The Speedicut Papers: Book 7 (Royal Scandals).
147 Commander (later Admiral) Colin Keppel CB DSO (1862-1947).
148 Major General (later Lieutenant General) William Gatacre DSO (1843-1906).
149 Editor’s Note: Previously published accounts have asserted that the Emir in charge of the arsenal was the man tasked by the Khalifa with priming the second mine. Fearful of suffering the same fate as the Egyptian gunner officer, he dampened the gunpowder with several gallons of water so that it wouldn’t ignite. Readers must judge for themselves which account is the correct one.
150 Mary Jeune, Baroness St Helier (1845-1931).
151 General (later Field Marshal) Sir Evelyn Wood VC GCB GCMG (1838-1919)
152 Lieutenant the Hon Raymond de Montmorency (1867-1900).
153 Editor’s Note: In the order Speedicut relates them the banners belonged to the Dervish commanders Ali Wad Helu, Osman Sheikh ed Din, the Khalifa and the Sherif.
154 Editor’s Note: A broadly similar account may be found in Churchill’s The River War: An account of the Reconquest of the Sudan.
155 See The Speedicut Papers: Book 6 (Vitai Lampada).
156 All three incidents are recounted in The Speedicut Papers: Book 2 (Love & Other Blood Sports).
157 Editor’s Note: Lieutenant de Montmorency was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions, although the citation states that he had gone to the assistance of 2nd Lieutenant Grenfell, who did not survive. It is possible that de Montmorency was involved in two similar incidents.
158 HIM Elizabeth (‘Sisi’) Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary (1837-1898). As readers of the previous volumes of The Speedicut Papers will know, Speedicut had met the Empress Elizabeth of Austria on several occasions. See The Speedicut Papers: Books 3, 4 & 7.
159 Countess Irma Sztáray de Sztára et Nagymihály (1863-1940).
160 Luigi Lucheni (1873-1910).
161 Editor’s Note: Empress Elizabeth actually had two sets of these hair ornaments. The principal set, made by Köchert & Pioté of Vienna, included a very large pearl which, in its setting, came to be known as the Sisi Star. A second set, without pearl centres, was made for the Empress by Rozet & Fischmeister. Paste copies of both sets are readily available to this day.
162 On the death of her husband, Eduard, in 1892 Anna Sacher (1859-1930) had taken over the management of the Sacher Hotel.
163 La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) was first performed in 1895 in Turin. Its first performance in England was in Manchester in 1896 but it wasn’t performed at the Royal Opera House until 1897, so to Lady Charlotte-Georgina Speedicut it would have been a “new” work.
164 Editor’s Note: Readers who are familiar with The Speedicut Papers: Book 3 (Uncivil Wars) will know that, when Speedicut gave his gift of the Yi Concubine’s magnificent pink pearls to Lady Charlotte-Georgina at their wedding breakfast, the case was empty.
165 Count Franz Deym von Střítež (1838-1903, Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to the Court of St James 1888-1903.
166 In 1820, HRH Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel (1797-1889) won a collection of unset emeralds in the Frankfurt lottery. In due course, she bequeathed these jewels to her daughter, HRH Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Duchess of Teck (1833-1897), who was a large woman, hence her nickname. The stones, which are known as the Cambridge Emeralds, have had a colourful history since.
167 See The Speedicut Papers: Book 3 (Uncivil Wars).
168 The Rag is the nickname of the Army & Navy Club.
169 Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster KG PC JP (1825-1899).
170 General Sir Redvers Buller VC GCB GCMG (1839-1908). Speedicut had served with Buller during the failed expedition to rescue General Gordon in 1885. See The Speedicut Papers: Book 7 (Royal Scandals).
171 Lieutenant General (later Field Marshal) Sir George Stuart White VC KCB (1835-1912).
172 Major General Sir George Pomeroy Colley KCSI CB CMG (1835-1881) was killed at the disastrous Battle of Majuba Hill. See The Speedicut Papers: Book 6 (Vitai Lampada).
173 The Rt Hon George Wyndham MP (1863-1913) was, at this time, Under Secretary of State for War. Cecil Rhodes was a close friend and financed Wyndham’s imperialist magazine, The Outlook. Lady Sibell Wyndham (1855-1929) was the daughter of the Earl of Scarborough and his wife, the widow of the Duke of Westminster (1855-1884).
174 William, 2nd Lord Gerard of Bryn (1851-1902).
175 Sir Ernest Cassel KCMG (1852-1921); Cassel was later appointed a Privy Counsellor and awarded the GCMG, GCB and GCVO.
176 Editor’s Note: Although she later exposed it as a fraud, Princess Catherine Radziwill may have been one of the authors of the notorious Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an anti-Semitic hoax that purported to be a Jewish plan for global domination, which was first published in 1903.
177 Barney Barnato (1851-1897) & Solomon ‘Solly’ Joel (1865-1931).
178 Major General Sir William Penn Symons KCB (1843-1899).
179 Colonel (later Lieutenant General Sir) Herbert Miles (1850-1926).
180 John Atkins (1871-1954) & Leo Amery (1873-1955).
181 Brigadier General (later General Sir) Henry Hildyard (1846-1916).
182 Editor’s Note: As so often before, Speedicut’s account of a well-documented historical event casts an interesting, and sometimes controversial, side light on the published facts. This is particularly true of his reporting of the events surrounding the incident of the armoured train. Readers must decide for themselves to what extent they accept Speedicut’s version but they should bear in mind that – in stark contrast to the other accounts - he was not writing with a view to publication.
183 Editor’s Note: The regimental motto of the 17th Lancers was ‘Death or Glory’.
184 Editor’s Note: The battles of Stormberg, Magersfontein and Colenso, were fought respectively on 10th, 11th & 15th December 1899. By his own account, Churchill escaped on 12th December, the day after Speedicut arrived at Solly Joel’s house. Lord Roberts set sail for the Cape on 23rd December.
185 Richard Marsh MVO (1851-1933).
186 The Dowager Empress CiXi of China, formerly the Yi Concubine (1835-1908). See The Speedicut Papers: Book 3 (Uncivil Wars).