Regiment: 1st Life Guards
Date & place of birth: 16 March 1876, Petworth, Sussex
Date & place of death: 6 November 1914 (aged 42), Belgium
Lieutenant The Hon. William Reginald Wyndham, known as Reggie, fought in the Boer War as well as the First World War. There is a Wyndham WW1 Memorial Park in Grantham which was opened in 1924, after Lady Leconfield donated £1000 towards it as a memorial to her son.
Family background
Reggie Wyndham was born in Petworth the son of Lord and Lady Leconfield. He was the third youngest of seven children.
Military career
Reggie was in the 17th Lancers and fought in the Boer War from 1899 to 1902 and was given the Queen’s Medal with three clasps.
He only left the army after a riding accident in 1903. He farmed in East Africa, then moved to the Rockies, USA eventually returning to England, spending his winters in Grantham where he hunted with the Belvoir hounds. In 1911 he was living in Grosvenor Square, London in the family home.
When war broke out he was gazetted as a Captain in the Lincolnshire Yeomanry and later attached to the Household Cavalry First Life Guards. He was sent to France on 8 October 1914.
Death and commemoration
Reggie was killed in action at Ypres on 6 November 1914 aged 38 and received the Victory, British and 14 star medals. He is buried in Zillebeke Churchyard, Belgium, which is known as the aristocrat’s cemetery.
Subsequent family history
Reggie never married and his family still live in Petworth House.
In his will he left £3000 to the officers of the 17th Lancers for the promotion of sport in the regiment, and his collection of stuffed hunting trophies to the Borough of Grantham.