FEATURE
Catholic hero Charles A. Coulombe remembers Edward Lisle Strutt
E
arlier in this space we were treated to an important figure of the Catholic Revival in England – Ambrose Phillipps de Lisle, Master of Grace-Dieu Manor, co-founder of the Cistercian Abbey of Mount St Bernard, and one of the leading lights of the early 19th century Cambridge converts, alongside his close friend Kenelm Digby (whom we have also met). In 1873, his daughter, Alice, married the Honourable Arthur Strutt, second son of Edward Strutt, the First Baron Belper, a cotton magnate and Liberal politician. A year later, their son, Edward Lisle Strutt – the subject of this article - was born. It must have been a love match, given that the two fathers-in-law were so completely different; de Lisle was one of the leading Catholics in the realm, while Lord Belper only consented to the match on the proviso that any issue be raised in the Church of England. So it was that young Edward was baptised Anglican. But his father died in an accident at the family’s mill when Edward was three, and thenceforth his mother brought him up as a Catholic. Despite his paternal origins, he would remain a devout Catholic his entire life, and for that reason become a key player in the life of one of the 20th century’s most saintly Catholic figures. At age 13 the young man was sent to the then socially prominent Jesuit establishment, Beaumont College. During his time there the school hosted both British and European noble students, as well as exiled French and Spanish princes. Upon graduation at age 18 he was sent to the University of Innsbruck for a year, where he became fluent in French, German, and Italian; little did he know how well Providence was fitting him for his greatest hour! He also acquired mountaineering and skiing while in Tyrol – two activities that would also shape the rest of his life. In 1893, the young Strutt entered Christ Church, Oxford, but he soon became impatient with university life, and with an independent income, he was in no need of employment. He left without a degree after a year and looked
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Strutt: ‘decorated by the British, French, Belgian, Italian, and Romanian governments’
for something to engage his energy. In time he found it in the militia, joining in 1898 the Third Battalion (Militia) of the Royal Scots – “Pontius Pilate’s Bodyguard.” So called because it was the oldest regiment in the British army until its amalgamation in 2006; it had been founded in 1633 by Scots loyal to Charles I – and was the only regiment whose majority remained loyal to James II in 1688. This background tremendously appealed to the adventurous Strutt, in whom Romanticism, piety, and skill were already being seen in equal measure. Commissioned as a Lieutenant, in 1900 he was promoted to Captain when virtually the whole battalion volunteered to go to South Africa for the Boer War. For two long years, Strutt and his comrades fought a guerrilla campaign orchestrated by the wily Boer general de Wet. Strutt was mentioned in despatches; after their return to Great Britain in July of 1902, he led his regiment’s cricket team to the
Netherlands to compete a month later. Winning one game and narrowly losing a second in the very pro-Boer nation, Strutt’s action was daring, but considered undiplomatic in the extreme. Given the ample leisure time that his wealth and position gave him, after his return from South Africa he began spending his summers mountaineering and his winters skiing at St Moritz, Switzerland. It was there that he met the woman who would become his wife in 1905, Frances Hollond, daughter of a former MP for Brighton. It was also where he met members of the Austrian Imperial Family, including the ill-starred heir to the throne, Franz Ferdinand. Not too surprisingly, the pair, whose views in religion and politics were so similar, hit it off. Two years after their last encounter in 1912, Franz Ferdinand was murdered, and Europe exploded. The Royal Scots were mobilized and sent to France. The now 40-year-old Captain was placed in temporary command of the 2nd Battalion, currently engaged around Neuve Chapelle. Making a routine report to his divisional commander, he was literally blown off his feet by a six round artillery barrage which threw him several yards, causing temporary paralysis. Six months later, he was back in the field. In October of 1916, however, he was sent to Salonika to act as liaison between the British and French commanders on the Southern Front, who were not getting on well. Strutt managed to bring them into a relatively close cooperation, which was in no small part responsible for the success of their final thrust to the borders of AustriaHungary in 1918. When the War was over, Strutt was decorated by the British, French, Belgian, Italian, and Romanian governments with various knighthoods and honours. Thinking he would relax, early 1919 found him in Venice, enjoying the hospitality of the Hotel Danieli. But that victory brought with it the collapse of the Habsburg Empire and ensuing chaos. In the midst of the now fractured Central Europe, in January of 1919 Emperor Charles and his young
WINTER 2021
