Family :

Education & Career :

Hon. LL.D. 1898. Educated in Switzerland, and at R.M.A. Woolwich. Lieut., R.E., 1871; Capt., 1883. Served in expedition for relief of General Gordon in Khartoum, 1884-5. Major, 1884; Lieut.-Col., 1885. Governor-General of Eastern Sudan, 1886; Adjutant-General, Egyptian Army, 1892. K.C.M.G., 1894. Major-General and K.C.B. for services in River war, 1896. Defeated Khalifa's army at Omdurman and re-occupied Khartoum, 1898. Created Baron, 1898. Governor-General of the Sudan, 1899. Lieut.-General, 1899. Lord Robert's Chief of Staff in South Africa, 1899. Commander-in-Chief, Boer War, 1900-2. General, 1902. Commander-in-Chief in India, 1902-9; Field Marshall, 1909. Created Earl, 1914. Secretary of State for War, 1914; increased British army from six to seventy divisions, 1914-16. K.G., 1915. Drowned off the Orkneys, with the staff of his Mission, June, 1916, whilst sailing in H.M.S. Hampshire to visit Russia. Brother of Arthur B. (1871). (Burke, P. and B.; D.N.B.; Army Lists.)

Service Life:

Campaigns:

• The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.

On Monday 5th June 1916, about 1 to 2 miles off Marwick Head in Orkney, by 7.50 pm, H.M.S. Hampshire struck a German mine and sank. According to an official MOD site the ships full compliment at the time of sailing was 655 men plus 7 passengers who were Lord Kitchener and his staff. The real number is described by Kitchener Hampshire website at 737. The bodies of over 100 officers and men were recovered from the sea and were interred into one common grave where they now lay to rest at the Lyness Cemetery, Hoy, Orkney. That is with the exception of Lieutenant MacPherson and Colonel Fitzgerald. Lieutenant MacPherson was was onboard the Hampshire in his capacity as a Russian translator and was buried in a separate gave in Lyness Cemetery. The body of Colonel Fitzgerald was taken to Inverness and then transferred to London for burial at the Eastbourne (Ocklynge) Cemetery in Sussex. The body of Lord Kitchener was never recovered from the sea and only 12 men survived the sinking of the HMS Hampshire.

See also: HMS Hampshire.

See also: Kitchener Hampshire.

Masonic :

"Of the many famous men who have been Freemasons, the first Earl Kitchener of Khartoum may be considered to have been the most active to patronise the Craft. In an extraordinary life, his onerous military commitment to his country was intertwined with the Masonic duties he pursued on behalf of the fraternity."

So says MQ Magazine when relating to Kitchener's profile. It goes on...

"He belonged to 15 Lodges and Chapters whilst serving as District Grand Master of Egypt and the Sudan and of the Punjab in India. He was simultaneously Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Army and later in India, culminating in his appointment as Secretary of War before his untimely death in 1916. At the time he was holding active Masonic office. Horatio Herbert Kitchener was born on 24 June 1850 near Ballylongford, Kerry, Ireland. Following in his father's footsteps into the army, after varied posts he moved to Egypt in 1882. Freemasonry was well established in the area, having been brought to Egypt in 1798 by Napoleon's armies and quickly spread through the region. From the start, high-ranking French officers were active members, encouraged by Napoleon himself. They introduced eminent and respected native soldiers and politicians that became the breeding ground for Kitchener to become a Freemason some 50 years later. The Masonic legacy in Egypt was confused at best. French, Italian, English, Scottish and Irish jurisdictions worked at times together ¬ and at times at loggerheads. The formation of the National Grand Lodge of Egypt in 1864, warranted by the Grand Orient of Italy, only gave temporary relief to the confusion. The National Grand Lodge of Egypt was quickly recognised, particularly in the light of the dignitaries who headed it. Soon, however, disillusioned with the many unrecognised Degrees and Orders being practiced by the National Grand Lodge, England decided to form, for a second time, its own District Grand Lodge, which brought some semblance of order and control.

Kitchener was 33 [1894?] when he was initiated, almost certainly, in the Italian-speaking La Concordia Lodge No. 1226 in Cairo in 1883. Some doubt as to the Lodge at which he was initiated has arisen as a result of hand annotations in the records of the listing of Grand Officers in Grand Lodge in England. The annotation states: 'presumed to have been initiated in Star in (sic) the East Lodge 1355 Egyptian Grand Lodge in 1883, OR if not there, in La Concordia No. 1226'."

La Concordia did not survive the 19th Century, having been formed in 1868 and relinquishing its warrant in 1890 with no surviving records.

Because it is not possible to determine the fact, Kitchener's mother Lodge will remain La Concordia, until other evidence proves otherwise. In the 1921 book, he is listed against four lodges. L2127, L114, L2998 amd L3402. The Lodges listed above are those where membership can be proved. For British Union Lodge No. 114, however, no detail can be found in their contribution record, but Kitchener had a connection with Suffolk and is listed in the 1921 Book under L114. Further evidence provided by Simon Wills, Secretary, Thomas Harper Lodge, shows in Concordia Lodge No. 3102's Register of Members that Kitchener became an Honorary member 24th March, 1906, at Calcutta.

Founder member of Drury Lane Lodge No. 2127 listing previous Lodge as No. 1355. Joined Bulwer Lodge of Cairo No. 2nd November 1889 from 2127
Joined Grecia Lodge No. 1105 8th March 1890 from 1065
Joined Khartoum Lodge No. 7th November 1902
Joined Himalayan Brotherhood Lodge No. 459 in 1903

Past District Grand Master(Egypt & Sudan)
Past District Grand Master, Punjab

See also: R.W. Bro. Yasha Beresina Research for a more detailed piece of research.

Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

• The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• The (UK) National Archives
• Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
• ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry

Additional Source:

• Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
• Researcher : Bruce Littley