Richard Martin Welby

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Captain Richard Martin Welby (9 August, 1886 – 24 April, 1930) was an officer in the Royal Navy. He would serve throughout the Great War but commit suicide in 1930 while in command of a light cruiser.

Life & Career

Welby was born in Nottingham, the son of Reverend Abraham Adlard Welby. After gaining two months' time on passing out of Britannia in September 1902, Welby received his first appointment to Andromeda. He stayed only briefly before moving to Bacchante, in which hs spent two years. He then spent four months in Leviathan before he was invalided with enteric fever. After being found fit on 20 October 1905, he was appointed to Jupiter for two months and to Swiftsure in the Channel Fleet for about two years.[1]

Welby was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 1 October, 1908 and left Swiftsure when she was reduced on 7 October.[2]

Welby was appointed in command of the first-class torpedo boat T.B. 67 on 8 December, 1908. After 18 months in her, he was appointed in command of T.B. 112 on 11 June, 1910.

Welby was appointed in command of the destroyer Grampus on 6 January, 1916.

Chief Engine Room Artificer John T. Peel of Grampus drowned on 8 March, 1916. Welby received the displeasure of the Admiralty, as the ship's life buoys had no lights fitted and no instructions had been issued on when they should be released.[3][4]

Welby was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on 1 October, 1916.[5]

Welby was appointed in command of the destroyer Rifleman by the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean on 6 February, 1918. He'd remain in her through the end of the war.

Post-War

Welby picked up responsibility for a group of T.B.Ds. in late March 1919 until he was was appointed out of Rifleman and into Salmon on 30 April, 1919.

Welby commanded Serene for eight months before being appointed in command of the destroyer Vega on 27 May, 1920. Welby was promoted to the rank of Commander on 30 June, 1921 and re-appointed in command of Vega. For him, the twenties would be a series of destroyer commands and technical courses, with a stint as executive officer in the light cruiser Coventry, vice Coombs in 1925-27. One high point appears to be a 1923 inspection report for Serapis in which she was declared "most efficient destroyer of the 8th Flotilla."[6]

Welby was promoted to the rank of Captain on 31 December, 1928.[7]

In October, 1929 when he was fresh off a Senior Officers' Technical Course, Welby was appointed in command of the light cruiser Champion. He would be found dead in her on 24 April, 1930. A Coroner's Inquest determined that he had committed suicide while of unsound mind, though it is curious to note that his family came to believe the death was somehow an accident.[8] There is no indication in his service record that anyone had worried about his emotional stability. Welby was buried in Bournemouth's Wimborne Road Cemetery, a posthumous evaluation describing him as a "capable and reliable commanding officer."[9]

Personal Life

Welby married Euphemia Violet Lyon (1891 — 1987), the daughter of Herbert Lyon. Euphemia would become Superintendent of the Women's Royal Naval Service in mid-1939. The couple had four children.

See Also

Naval Appointments
Preceded by
Clement R. Dane
Captain of H.M. T.B. 067
6 Dec, 1908[10] – 11 Jun, 1910[11]
Succeeded by
William H. Sandford
as Captain of H.M. T.B. 067
Preceded by
Francis B. Haygarth
Captain of H.M. T.B. 112
11 Jun, 1910[12][13] – 16 May, 1911[14]
Succeeded by
Hugh B. Worsley
Preceded by
Thomas C. C. Bolster
Captain of H.M. T.B. 19
8 Sep, 1915[15][16] – 1 Jan, 1916[17]
Succeeded by
Arthur M. C. Stileman
Preceded by
Roy Bacchus
Captain of H.M.S. Grampus
6 Jan, 1916[18][19] – 26 Jan, 1918[20]
Succeeded by
Douglas Garvey
Preceded by
Guy D. Fanshawe
Captain of H.M.S. Cameleon
26 Jan, 1918[21] – 6 Feb, 1918[22]
Succeeded by
Gerald M. McKenna
Preceded by
Gerald M. McKenna
Captain of H.M.S. Rifleman
6 Feb, 1918[23] – 30 Apr, 1919[24]
Succeeded by
Hugh B. Wrey
Preceded by
Ronald H. C. Hallifax
Captain of H.M.S. Salmon
30 Apr, 1919[25] – 1 Oct, 1919[26]
Succeeded by
Lewes G. Gardner
Preceded by
Herbert W. Wyld
Captain of H.M.S. Serene
1 Oct, 1919[27][28] – 27 May, 1920[29]
Succeeded by
Ralph G. H. Izat
Preceded by
David V. F. Erskine
Captain of H.M.S. Vega
27 May, 1920[30][31] – 27 Jul, 1921[32]
Succeeded by
Geoffrey S. Holden
Preceded by
Sydney Hopkins
Captain of H.M.S. Sparrowhawk
1 Feb, 1922[33] – Nov, 1922[34]
Succeeded by
Austen G. Lilley
Preceded by
Austen G. Lilley
Captain of H.M.S. Serapis
Nov, 1922[35][36] – Oct, 1923[37]
Succeeded by
David B. Nicol
Preceded by
David B. Nicol
Captain of H.M.S. Worcester
Oct, 1923[38][39] – Jan, 1924[40]
Succeeded by
Ambrose T. N. Abbay
Preceded by
Walter O. H. Lambert
Captain of H.M.S. Searcher
10 Jul, 1924[41][42] – 21 Aug, 1924[43]
Succeeded by
Brownlow V. Layard
Preceded by
Stuart E. Holder
Captain of H.M.S. Curlew
Jun, 1929[44]c. Jul, 1929[45]
Succeeded by
John G. Bower
Preceded by
Eric R. Bent
Captain of H.M.S. Champion
18 Oct, 1929[46] – 24 Apr, 1930[47]
Succeeded by
Douglas Faviell

Footnotes

  1. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  2. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  3. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  4. Kindell. Royal Navy Roll of Honour Part 2. p. 184.
  5. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  6. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  7. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  8. Family website commemorating the life of his son, Richard Nigel Lyon Welby, 1921-2012.
  9. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  10. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  11. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  12. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  13. The Navy List. (April, 1911). p. 400.
  14. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  15. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  16. The Navy List. (October, 1915). p. 400.
  17. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  18. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  19. The Navy List. (October, 1916). p. 394s.
  20. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  21. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  22. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  23. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  24. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  25. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  26. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  27. "Naval Appointments." The Times (London, England), 23 Sept. 1919, p. 14.
  28. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  29. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  30. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  31. The Navy List. (December, 1920). p. 880.
  32. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  33. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  34. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  35. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  36. The Navy List. (January, 1923). p. 810.
  37. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  38. "Naval Appointments." The Times (London, England), 19 Sept. 1923, p. 16.
  39. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  40. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  41. "Naval Appointments." The Times (London, England), Friday, Jun 20, 1924; pg. 5; Issue 43683.
  42. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  43. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  44. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  45. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  46. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.
  47. Welby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/220. f. 284.