The Paget family - The OldWinburnians

The Paget Family

Several members of the Paget family went to the Grammar school.

Colonel Leopold Paget moved into Park Homer at Colehill in 1865, and at least three of his nine sons attended the school.

The third son, The Rev. Cecil George who became Vicar of Holt, is on the OWA committee in 1899, and three of his sons also attended the Grammar School.
His fourth son Lt.-Col Alwyn de Blaquiere Paget is mentioned in despatches in 1917, and his 6th son Brig.-Gen Wellesley H sends apologies for absence to the OWA in 1913, having been recalled to Ireland where trouble is brewing.

Likewise Gen. Arthur Paget, excuses himself on the same grounds. He was from a different line of the Paget family descended from 1st Marquess of Anglesea. At the time they were using WGS as a prep school for Wellington or Marlborough. That they would attend OW reunions is testimony to the affection they had for the school. In fact the Reverend Cecil stood in for Wellesley as Chair of the reunion.

In 1914 General Sir Arthur, by this time C-in-C Ireland had to deal with the famous “Curragh” incident, in which Army officers threatened to resign their commissions rather than fire on Loyalist forces. It rather blighted the rest of his army career, there are those who believe he would have gone on to be C-in-C of the British Army. At any rate he was side-lined in 1916, resigned in 1918, and went on to gain a different sort of laurels as a yachtsman and socialite on the Cote d'Azur.

In the next generation the following sons of Cecil George Paget are mentioned, John C and Michael T are in Mr Wilshire's violin class in 1909, John is admitted to Sandhurst in 1912.