Major Edward Lohet Lowdell DCLI

 

His medals sold for £431 in 2001 at Christies

1858 Sep 19 Born Lambeth, London. (he told the ADRIC that he was born in 1874). He was the son of Joseph Langridge and Hersilie Josephine Diendownie Lowdell. His father was a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (England), and Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries (London).

1861 census at Lambeth . London

1871 Census. A pupil at The Royal Medical Benevolent College, Epsom, Epsom

1872 Jan . He entered the Royal Navy as a Cadet in Britannia , aged 12 years. Royal Navy Record

1874. Appointed to H.M.S. Triumph in the Mediterranean two years later, he was promoted Midshipman

1875 Jun 1. Awarded Royal Humane Society's Medal for Lifesaving, small, bronze (E.L. Lowdell, Midn., H.M.S. Triumph,'On 1 June 1875, H.M.S. Triumph was at Lisbon. At 5 p.m. a dinghy capsized in the River Tagus and two Seamen from the ship, Richard Smith and George Bisgrove, were in imminent danger of drowning, for the water was 21 fathoms deep. Lowdell dived into the river from the gangway, assisted Smith to get clear of the dinghy, then swam for a lifebuoy and conveyed it to him. Two other members of the Ship's Company assisted in the rescue'.

1878 Sep 11. Promoted Sub-Lt

1881 census. A Sub.Lt at sea with the Navy on HMS Temeraire.

1883 Jul 3. The following promotions to Lt have been made from this date :— Sub-Lieutenants Edward Lohet Lowdell

1887 Apr. In the running for Prime Minister of Korea.

1888 Feb He refused to perform his watch-keeping duties while on passage home from China in the Tamar . He appears to have been trying to resign his commission and that the Admiralty would not let him become Prime Minister of Korea..

1891 Jun 20. His second attempt to resign his Commission proved successful.

After leaving the Navy he engaged in a variety of occupations, including the theatre, transporting supplies in South America and managing a quarry business near Leicester (THE NARBOROUGH AND ENDERBY GRANITE QUARRIES COMPANY), . He later claimed that the Colonial Office had once offered him the post of Harbour Master at St. Lucia in the West Indies.

1892 Jan 23. Obtains a civilian Masters Certificate

1893 Mar 30. Married Annie Gwenllian daughter of Daniel Morgan of Cwmgigfran, Talley, Carmarthen.

1893 Apr 7. Leaves UK for Colombo with his wife. Looks like a honeymoon

1897 Jul 29 Arrives in UK from Buenos Aires

1901 & 1911 census He does not appear.

1914 He entered the army, giving is age as 43 (he was in fact 56) .

1914 Nov 2. Commissioned as a Temporary Captain in the 10th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment

1911 Nov 11. States his marriage position to the War Office

1915 Feb 1. He transferred as a Major, to the 7th Battalion, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.

1915 Jul . Arrived in France with the Battalion and he went on to serve in the trenches near Loos and in the Ypres salient.

1916 Jan . Appointed to the 8th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment, as a Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel. He relinquished his appointment as a result of an adverse report that May. Arriving back in Southampton in early June, he was admitted to hospital with 'neurasthenia' (shell-shock).

Remarkably Lowdell was passed 'fit' and returned to the 7th Battalion, D.C.L.I., with whom he participated in the Guillemont and Flers-Courcelette actions on the Somme. But once again he became the subject of an adverse report and by early November he found himself re-employed as the Assistant Military Landing Officer at Marseilles.

1916 Apr/Jun Married in London to Priscilla Locket. His first wife died Jan/Mar 1916, so it would appear that they were separated but not divorced, as in his 1914 letter to the War Office, and that he was waiting for her death to remarry.

1917 The army were not impressed by him

1917 Nov 21. Temp. Maj. E. L. Lowdell, Gen. List, relinquishes his commn. on ceasing to be empld. He was ordered home and took up an appointment with the Road Transport Board.

1920 Aug 20 . Joined ADRIC with service no 311 Posted to A Coy. Wife at 49 Cleveland Mansions. Maida Vale, London W9

1921 Mar 22. Posted to P Coy. "Coy Quarter Master" Section Leader

1921 Jun 28 to 11 Jul on Leave

1922 Jan 25. Discharged on demobilisation of ADRIC

1927 Apr 29. Puts himself forward for honours.

1935 May 15. Died in London aged 76 years. Respiratory failure and pneumonia

ADRIC

WO 339/12235