Sanford John Palairet Scobell

Major General Sir Sanford John Palairet Scobell, (26 September 1879 – 2 March 1955), known by his middle name John, was a senior officer in the British Army. Early life Sanford John Palairet Scobell was born on 26 September 1879, the son of Sanford George Treweeke Scobell, of Down House in Redmarley and of Osborne House, The Park, Cheltenham, by his wife Edith, fourth daughter of Septimus Henry Palairet, of the Grange in Bradford-upon-Avon, who was of Huguenot descent. His father was a major in the Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars and the regiment's Honorary Lieutenant Colonel in 1896; he was the son of Rev. John Scobell, rector of Southover and All Saints in Lewes, who was part of the Scobell family of Nancealverne. In 1910, Scobell married Cecily Maude, daughter of Charles C. Hopkinson, of Belgrave Lodge in Cheltenham; they had two daughters and two sons. His elder sister, Mary Hamilton Scobell, was the mother of the best-selling author Barbara Cartland. Military career Following school at Winchester College, Scobell studied at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Norfolk Regiment (later the Royal Norfolk Regiment) on 12 August 1899. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on 29 August the following year and served in the Somaliland campaign in 1904. On 24 January 1906, he became a captain and served as an adjutant between November 1907 and November 1910.