Hon Robert Thomas Boscawen, MC PC

1923 - 2013  (90 years)

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  Name	Robert Thomas Boscawen
  Title	Hon
  Suffix	MC PC
  Birth	17 March 1923
  Gender	Male
  Name	17 March 1923 (0 years)
  	Robert Boscawen was the fourth son of Evelyn Hugh John Boscawen, eighth Viscount Falmouth, of Tregothnan, by his wife Mary (née Meynell, descended from the Earls of Halifax)[2] A member of a very old Cornish family, his ancestors included Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, and Admiral Edward Boscawen, victor over the French at the Battle of Lagos.[1] Boscawen was educated at West Downs School and Eton College.
  service-WWII	1941 (17 years)	Royal Engineers
  	In 1941, he joined the Royal Engineers. However, on 4 September 1942, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the 1st Battalion of the Coldstream Guards
  Name	4 Sep 1942 (19 years)
  	on 4 September 1942, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the 1st Battalion of the Coldstream Guards
  service-WWII	4 Sep 1942 (19 years)	Coldstream Guards, British Army
  	In 1941, he joined the Royal Engineers. However, on 4 September 1942, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the 1st Battalion of the Coldstream Guards (with which members of his family had served since 1769, including his brothers George and Evelyn, who had been killed during the evacuation from Dunkirk), and his service number was 243507.[3]
  service-WWII	Abt 1943 (19 years)
  	The battalion formed part of the 5th Guards Armoured Brigade, part of Major General Allan Adair's Guards Armoured Division, and Boscawen was sent to the cavalry wing of Sandhurst to train as a tank commander.
  service-WWII	Sep 1944 (21 years)
  	In September 1944, after having fought in the Battle of Normandy, his battalion were among the first tanks to enter Brussels.
  Name	Oct 1944 (21 years)
  	A week after Operation Market Garden had finished, he was awarded the Military Cross (MC) during the German counter offensive against the Nijmegen bridgehead.[4]
  service-WWII	Apr 1945 (22 years)
  	In April 1945, during the last month of the war, he was very seriously wounded and sustained disfiguring burns when a shell pierced his tank. He was evacuated to Archibald McIndoe's pioneering "Guinea Pig Club" plastic surgery unit at Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, Sussex, spending much of the next three years in hospital.[1][4]
  Married	1949 (25 years)
  	Boscawen married Mary Codrington in 1949 and they had two daughters, Dozmary and Karenza, and one son, Hugh, who followed him into the Coldstream Guards.[5] They lived at Ivythorm Manor in Street, Somerset. His wife predeceased him by seven months, dying in May 2013.[6]
  Residence	May 2013 (90 years)	Ivythorm Manor, Street, Somerset
  	lived at Ivythorm Manor in Street, Somerset. His wife predeceased him by seven months, dying in May 2013.[6]
  Name	28 December 2013 (90 years)
  	British Conservative politician. He was the last member of the House of Commons to hold a Military Cross for action during the Second World War.[1]
  Death	28 Dec 2013	Isle of Wight
  Occupation	1939 (15 years) - Trinity College, Cambridge University  - Too young for military service at the outbreak of the Second World War, Boscawen went to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read mechanical science and took the special army engineering course.
  	1947-1948 (24 years) - Boscawen served during 1947 and 1948 in Hamburg, West Germany, with the British Red Cross civilian relief teams organised by his mother, Lady Falmouth, a vice-chairman of the Conservative Party.
  	1948 (24 years) - Boscawen's party political career began in 1948 when he joined the Young Conservatives.[4]
  	1948 (24 years) - From 1948, he spent two years with Shell Petroleum as a management trainee before joining the family-owned Cornish china clay business, Goonveen, at Rostowrack
  	1950 (26 years) - Goonvean and Rostowrack China Clay Company, renamed Goonvean Ltd abt1990, Goonveen, Rostowrack  - From 1948, he spent two years with Shell Petroleum as a management trainee before joining the family-owned Cornish china clay business, Goonveen, at Rostowrack
  	1952 (28 years) - [Role] Lloyd's underwriter, Lloyd's of London, One Lime Street, London, EC3M 7HA   - became a Lloyd's underwriter in 1952
  	1964 (40 years) - Boscawen contested Falmouth and Camborne in elections in both 1964 and 1966, achieving a swing to the Conservatives but not enough to win, and was subsequently deselected because of his support for the right-wing Monday Club: local party activists thought his membership of the club would harm his ability to appeal to a traditionally radical-leaning seat.[1]
  	1954-1965 (41 years) - National Health Service   - Boscawen was interested in the National Health Service and sat on its London Executive Council from 1954 to 1965
  	1970-1983 (59 years) - [Office] MP; for Wells, Wells, Somerset  - For thirteen years, from 1970 until 1983, he was the member for Wells and then, as the result of boundary changes, his constituency became Somerton and Frome, which he held for a further nine years, from 1983 to 1992.
  	1983-1992 (68 years) - [Office] MP; for Somerton and Frome 1983-2023, Somerset  - For thirteen years, from 1970 until 1983, he was the member for Wells and then, as the result of boundary changes, his constituency became Somerton and Frome, which he held for a further nine years, from 1983 to 1992.
  Person ID	I15517	AHP
  Last Modified	17 Apr 2026

  
  

  Father	Evelyn Hugh John Boscawen, 8th Viscount Falmouth,   b. 1887   d. 1962 (Age 75 years)
  Relationship	Birth
  Mother	Mary Margaret Desiree Meynell/BOSCAWEN, C.B.E.; d of Hon. Frederick George Lindley Meynell,   b. 1894   d. 1985 (Age 91 years)
  Relationship	Birth
  Marriage	1915
  Age at Marriage	He : ~ 28 years - She : ~ 21 years.
  Family ID	F4434	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		service-WWII - In 1941, he joined the Royal Engineers. However, on 4 September 1942, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the 1st Battalion of the Coldstream Guards (with which members of his family had served since 1769, including his brothers George and Evelyn, who had been killed during the evacuation from Dunkirk), and his service number was 243507.[3] - 4 Sep 1942 - Coldstream Guards, British Army   = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set