Admiral of the Fleet John Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, was a Royal Navy officer. He fought in the Anglo-Egyptian War and the Boxer Rebellion and commanded the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 during the First World War. His handling of the fleet at that battle was controversial. Jellicoe made no serious mistakes and the German High Seas Fleet retreated to port, at a time when defeat would have been catastrophic for Britain, but the public was disappointed that the Royal Navy had not won a more dramatic victory given that they outnumbered the enemy. Jellicoe later served as First Sea Lord, overseeing the expansion of the Naval Staff at the Admiralty and the introduction of convoys, but was relieved at the end of 1917. He also served as the governor-general of New Zealand in the early 1920s.
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith,, generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last Liberal Party prime minister to command a majority government, and the most recent Liberal to have served as Leader of the Opposition. He played a major role in the design and passage of major liberal legislation and a reduction of the power of the House of Lords. In August 1914, Asquith took Great Britain and the British Empire into the First World War. During 1915, his government was vigorously attacked for a shortage of munitions and the failure of the Gallipoli Campaign. He formed a coalition government with other parties but failed to satisfy critics, was forced to resign in December 1916 and never regained power.
William Waldegrave Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne, styled Viscount Wolmer between 1882 and 1895, was a British politician and colonial administrator, who served as High Commissioner for Southern Africa.
Lord George Francis Hamilton was a British Conservative Party politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who served as First Lord of the Admiralty and Secretary of State for India.
Lieutenant General Sir William Babtie, was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth armed forces. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Army Medical Services Museum in Aldershot.
Colonel Josiah Clement Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood,, sometimes referred to as Josiah Wedgwood IV, was a British Liberal and Labour politician who served in government under Ramsay MacDonald. He was a prominent single-tax activist following the political-economic reformer Henry George. He was the great-great-grandson of the famous potter Josiah Wedgwood.
Admiral of the Fleet Roger John Brownlow Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes, was a British naval officer.
David Alexander Edward Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford and 10th Earl of Balcarres,, styled Lord Balcarres or Lord Balniel between 1880 and 1913, was a British Conservative politician and art connoisseur.
Field Marshal William Gustavus Nicholson, 1st Baron Nicholson, was a British Army officer who served in the Second Anglo-Afghan War, the Mahdist War, the Third Anglo-Burmese War, the Second Boer War and the First World War. He became Chief of the Imperial General Staff and was closely involved in the reorganisation of the British Army in the early years of the 20th century.
Joseph Albert Pease, 1st Baron Gainford, known as Jack Pease, was a British businessman and Liberal politician. He was a member of H. H. Asquith's Liberal cabinet between 1910 and 1916 and also served as Chairman of the BBC between 1922 and 1926.
Stanley Owen Buckmaster, 1st Viscount Buckmaster, was a British lawyer and Liberal Party politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for most of the years from 1906 to 1915, when he was elevated to the peerage and served as Lord Chancellor under H. H. Asquith from 1915 to 1916.
Edward William Macleay Grigg, 1st Baron Altrincham, was a British colonial administrator and politician.
Cyril Asquith, Baron Asquith of Bishopstone, PC was an English barrister and judge who served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1951 until his death three years later.
Hugh Richard Heathcote Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Baron Quickswood PC, styled Lord Hugh Cecil until 1941, was a British Conservative Party politician.
Admiral of the Fleet Rosslyn Erskine Wemyss, 1st Baron Wester Wemyss,, known as Sir Rosslyn Wemyss between 1916 and 1919, was a Royal Navy officer. During the First World War he served as commander of the 12th Cruiser Squadron and then as Governor of Moudros before leading the British landings at Cape Helles and at Suvla Bay during the Gallipoli campaign. He went on to be Commander of the East Indies & Egyptian Squadron in January 1916 and then First Sea Lord in December 1917, in which role he encouraged Admiral Roger Keyes, Commander of the Dover Patrol, to undertake more vigorous operations in the Channel, ultimately leading to the launch of the Zeebrugge Raid in April 1918.
Frederick Cawley, 1st Baron Cawley PC, JP, known as Sir Frederick Cawley, Bt, between 1906 and 1918, was a British businessman and Liberal Party politician. A wealthy cotton merchant, he represented Prestwich in parliament between 1895 and 1918 and served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster between 1916 and 1918. Created a baronet in 1906, he was ennobled as Baron Cawley in 1918.
General Sir Beauchamp Duff, was a Scottish officer with a distinguished career in the British Indian Army. He served as Commander-in-Chief of India during the First World War. His role in the disastrous expedition to Mesopotamia was criticised, helping to end a long career.
The Dardanelles Commission was an investigation into the disastrous 1915 Dardanelles Campaign. It was set up under the Special Commissions Act 1916. The final report of the commission, issued in 1919, found major problems with the planning and execution of the campaign.
William Pickford, 1st Baron Sterndale, was a British lawyer and judge. He served as a Lord Justice of Appeal between 1914 and 1918, as President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division between 1918 and 1919 and as Master of the Rolls between 1919 and 1923.
The Maurice Debate was a debate in the British House of Commons which took place on 9 May 1918, during the First World War. A senior British Army officer, Major-General Sir Frederick Maurice, alleged that the War Cabinet had misled Parliament about troop strengths on the Western Front. The leader of the Liberal Party, H. H. Asquith, took up the allegations and attacked Prime Minister David Lloyd George, also a Liberal. The debate ripped apart the Liberal Party. While Asquith's attack was ineffective, Lloyd George vigorously defended his position, treating the debate like a vote of confidence. He won over the House with a powerful, if misleading, speech, rebutting all of Maurice's allegations. The debate did not cause the profound split in the Liberal Party, but did make it more visible and harder to heal. The main results were to strengthen Lloyd George, weaken Asquith, end public criticism of overall strategy, and strengthen civilian control of the military.
