Raymond (1878 – 1916), Arthur, b. 1884, Helen Violet (1887 – 1969) and Cyril (1890 – 1954). Herbert senior’s first wife Helen Asquith died in 1891.
Herbert Asquith senior was the British Prime Minister from 1908 until 1916 when he became ill following the death during the Somme Offensive of his eldest son Raymond.
After the death of his first wife in 1891, Herbert senior
married Emma Alice Margaret Tennant, known as Margot, in 1894. The couple had a son, Anthony (1902 – 1968),
who became a film director, and a daughter Elizabeth (1897 – 1945), who became
a writer and poet.
In 1910, Herbert junior married Cynthia, daughter of Hugo
Richard Charteris, the 11th Earl of Weymss. Cynthia was also a writer.
Like his brother Raymond, Herbert junior became a
lawyer. They both served with the Royal
Artillery during the First World War, Herbert junior reaching the rank of
Captain.
Herbert junior died on 5th August 1947.
The Hon. Herbert Asquith’s First World War poetry
collections were:
“Poems 1912 – 1933” (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1934
“The Volunteer and other poems” (Sidgwick & Jackson,
1915)
“The Volunteer and other poems, 2nd edition with
new poems added” (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1917)
And his poems were published in 21 WW1 anthologies.
“The Fallen Subaltern”
The
starshells float above, the bayonets glisten;
We
bear our fallen friend without a sound; Below the waiting legions lie and listen
To us, who march upon their burial-ground.
Wound
in the flag of England, here we lay him;
The
guns will flash and thunder o’er the grave; What other winding sheet should now array him,
What other music should salute the brave?
As
goes the Sun-god in his chariot glorious,
When
all his golden banners are unfurled, So goes the soldier, fallen but victorious,
And leaves behind a twilight in the world.
And
those who come this way, in days hereafter,
Will
know that here a boy for England fell, Who looked at danger with the eyes of laughter,
And on the charge his days were ended well.
One
last salute; the bayonets clash and glisten;
With
arms reversed we go without a sound: One more has joined the men who lie and listen
To us, who march upon their burial-ground.
Sources:
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-fallen-subaltern/Catherine W. Reilly “English Poetry of the First World War: A Bibliography” (St. Martin’s Press, New York 1978)
