William G. S. Cadogan

Major William George Sydney Cadogan MVO (31 January 1879 – 12 November 1914) was a British Army officer killed in the First World War. A son of the 5th Earl Cadogan, he had previously served in the Boer War, and was equerry to the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) from 1912 to 1914. He also played a single match of first-class cricket, for the Europeans team in the 1904 Bombay Presidency Match. Early life and family Cadogan was born in Chelsea, London. He was the fifth of seven sons born to the 5th Earl Cadogan and his wife, Lady Beatrix Jane Craven, a daughter of the 2nd Earl of Craven. The third son, Gerald Cadogan, succeeding to the earldom upon his father's death. Two other sons, Henry and Edward, were Conservative MPs, while another, Alexander, was a senior diplomat. William Cadogan was educated at Eton, where he played cricket for the school's First XI. From November 1896, he was a second lieutenant in the 4th (Eton College) Volunteer Battalion of The Oxfordshire Light Infantry. He went on to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and on 22 February 1899 joined the 10th Royal Hussars. Cadogan saw action in the Second Boer War, where he was present at the Relief of Kimberley and for operations in the Transvaal, the Orange Free State, and the Cape Colony. He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 June 1900, while in South Africa. Following the end of the war in 1902 his regiment went to India. Cadogan joined almost 375 officers and men of the 10th Hussars who left Cape Town on the SS Lake Manitoba in September 1902, arriving at Bombay the following month, and was then stationed at Mhow in Bombay Presidency. He was promoted to captain in March 1904. Cricket Apart from playing at Eton, Cadogan had also played several matches of cricket whilst in Ireland in 1896. He often played alongside one or two of his brothers, appearing for an I Zingari team, for an amateur "Eton Ramblers" side, and teams representing the Viceroy and the Lord Chief Justice. None of these games were accorded first-class status, although many of the players featured went on to play at higher levels, most notably Bernard Bosanquet, who played at Test level for England.