Henry Knollys

Sir Henry Knollys (20 June 1840 – 1 March 1930) was an officer in the Royal Artillery, British Army, and from 1896 to 1919 a private secretary to Princess Maud of Wales (from 1905 Queen of Norway). Family Knollys was the third and last surviving son of General The Right Hon. Sir William Thomas Knollys and grandson of General William Knollys, titular Earl of Banbury, who discontinued the use of the title in 1813, in consequence of a resolution in the House of Lords adverse to his claim. His elder brother Francis Knollys, 1st Viscount Knollys (1837-1924) was for many years Private Secretary successively to King Edward VII and to King George V; and his sister the Honourable Charlotte Knollys (1835-1930) was for years the devoted friend and servant of Queen Alexandra. He married first, in 1876, Louisa Elizabeth Eyre (who died in 1888), daughter of Reverend E Eyre; and second, in 1909, Flora Goodeve, daughter of Louis Arthur Goodeve. There were no children of either marriage. Early life and military career Henry Knollys was born on 20 June 1840. He was educated at Westminster School and joined the Royal Artillery from Woolwich, in 1860. He was on the staff of General Sir James Scarlett and of General Sir Hope Grant, and was subsequently Brigade Major, R.A., Aldershot, and Deputy Adjutant Quartermaster General., Northern District. From 1889 to 1891 he commanded the R.A. in South Africa.