Cyril Holland
Cyril Holland | |
|---|---|
 Cyril Wilde with his mother Constance in 1889 | |
| Born | Cyril Wilde 5 June 1885 |
| Died | 9 May 1915 (aged 29) |
| Parent(s) | Oscar Wilde Constance Lloyd |
Cyril Holland (born Cyril Wilde, June 5, 1885 – May 9, 1915) was the first son of Oscar Wilde and Constance Lloyd and brother to Vyvyan Holland.
From Vyvyan’s accounts in his autobiography, Son of Oscar Wilde, Oscar was a devoted and loving father to his two sons and their childhood was a relatively happy one.[1] Nevertheless, after Oscar’s infamous downfall, Constance chose to take on the surname Holland for both the boys and herself (the Holland name having been part of her own family heritage). She took the boys to Switzerland and then enrolled them in an English speaking school in Germany. Vyvyan was unhappy there. Because of this and to improve security, Vyvyan was moved to a Jesuit school in Monaco and subsequently attended Stonyhurst College also run by the Jesuits. However, Cyril remained at the school in Germany.[2] After Constance’s death in 1898, her relatives sought legal counsel to prevent Oscar Wilde from seeing his children again.
From 1899 – 1903, Holland attended Radley College.[3] After leaving school he became a Gentleman Cadet at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant, Royal Field Artillery, on 20 December, 1905. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 20 December 1908, and served in the UK until he was posted to India, where he served from September 1911 until 1914, with No. 9 Ammunition Column, RFA at Secunderabad, India in August 1914. He was promoted to Captain, on 30 October 1914.[4]
When World War I broke out, he was posted back to Europe and took part in the battle for Neuve-Chapelle, where he was killed by a German sniper on May 9, 1915 during the Battle of Festubert.[5][6] He is buried at St. Vaast Post Military Cemetery, Richebourg-l'Avoué.[7]
References
- ^ "A Life of Concealment". Time Magazine. 1954-09-27. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
- ^ "Wilde children"
- ^ Radley Register, 1847-1933
- ^ List of Officers of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, 1862-1914
- ^ TomFolio.com: AN IDEAL HUSBAND, Wilde, Oscar, H.A.S. Beane Books
- ^ CWGC :: Casualty Details
- ^ CWGC :: Casualty Details