Maurice H. N. Hood

Maurice Henry Nelson Hood was born on 16^th January 1881 at Chard, Somerset. He was the eldest surviving son of Arthur Wellington Alexander Nelson Hood, 2^nd Viscount Bridport, Conservative MP for West Somerset, and Maria Georgiana Julia (née Fox-Strangways). His surviving siblings were Mary (1873), Sybil Amy (1874), and Alexander John Nelson (1876). He was a direct descendant of the First Earl Nelson, William Nelson, the elder brother of Horatio. Maurice was educated at Sandroyd School, near Cobham in Surrey, and at Haileybury College, Hertford Heath. In 1898 he began a career at sea aboard the iron-hulled sailing ship Brilliant. On 6^th October 1899 he joined the Royal Naval Reserve with the rank of Midshipman, serving at the Southsea drill station until July 1901, when he was transferred to Dunham. In 1902 he qualified as a second mate. He was promoted Acting Sub-Lieutenant with seniority from 23^rd October 1905, the appointment being confirmed in November the following year. He was recommended for transfer to the Royal Navy as a Lieutenant, but in February 1908 he retired from the Reserve with the rank of Acting Sub-Lieutenant.

In 1908 Maurice married Ethel Rose Kendall. He lived extravagantly, maintaining a gambling habit and engaging in stock-exchange speculation, which led to mounting financial difficulties; in early 1910 he was declared bankrupt. Later that year the couple’s daughter, Eileen Sybil Mary, was born. Shortly afterwards the family emigrated to Walhachin, British Columbia, where their son, Rowland Arthur Herbert Nelson, was born in 1911. In 1912 the family moved to Vancouver, where Maurice worked as an insurance broker. In April he became a provisional Lieutenant and signalling officer with the 72^nd Highlanders of Canada. By April 1913 the family had returned to England and were living in St John’s Wood. The following year they travelled in Europe and South America before eventually returning home. Following the outbreak of war, Maurice was enlisted as a Sub-Lieutenant in the Hood Battalion on 1^st October 1914, and in February 1915 he was promoted Temporary Lieutenant. He first saw active service on the Gallipoli peninsula, where he was reported missing on 7^th June. There was an unconfirmed report that he had been seen wounded in a Turkish trench. On 11^th August the Foreign Office informed the Division that he was not a prisoner of war, according to information received from Constantinople via the United States embassy. On 1^st October it was formally assumed that he had been killed in action on 4^th June 1915, and his name is commemorated on the Helles Memorial.