| AdminHistory | Colonel Sir Douglas Branson (1893 - 1981) was born on 25 July 1893 and was educated at Marlborough and New College, Oxford. He served with distinction in the First World War with the Hallamshire Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment (becoming one of the youngest commanding officers in the British Army) where he was wounded twice and gained the Military Cross in 1917 and the Distinguished Service Order with two bars in 1918. At the end of the war he was appointed to command the Hallamshire Battalion. From 1925 he was Commander of the 148 Infantry Brigade (TA).
He was Additional Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to the King from 1927 - 1952 and to the Queen from 1952 - 1960. He also practiced as a solicitor, becoming Deputy Lieutenant for the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1934 and later High Sheriff of Hallamshire in 1963. He also headed the firm of solicitors Branson, Bramley and Co. of Paradise Square, Sheffield. He also served as a Town Trustee of Sheffield.
He was twice married, first to Edith Eileen Bradbury (daughter of Joseph Bradbury) who died in 1959; second to Ailie Fisher (widow of Brigadier John Malcolm Fisher and daughter of Sir William Bell). He was also a director of Newton Chambers, the Parkgate Iron and Steel Company and several other local companies. He died at his home in Fulwood Road, Sheffield on 23 November 1981.
Lieutenant-Colonel George Ernest Branson (1860 - 1940), son of Charles and Henrietta Branson. Worked as a solicitor in the family firm of Branson and Son. Received his commission in the Hallamshire Rifles in 1880, being promoted to captain in 1884, and hon. Lieutenant-colonel in 1900. He served as Lord Mayor of Sheffield in 1914-1915 during which time he was instrumental in the formation of the Sheffield City Battalion at the outbreak of World War One.
Colonel Sir Douglas Stephenson Branson c. 1894 - 1981.
Charles Antony Branson c. 1828 - 1899. |
| Description | Two albums of photographs, news-cuttings and other ephemera, primarily relating to Colonel Sir Douglas Branson (1893 - 1981), former Commanding Officer of the Hallamshire Rifles - "Sheffield's own" Battalion of the York and Lancaster Regiment and also former head of the firm of solicitors Branson, Bramley and Co. of Paradise Square, Sheffield.
The material also relates to: Sir Douglas Branson's father, Mr George Ernest Branson (c. 1861 - 1940), partner in the firm of solicitors Branson and Son of Bank Street, Sheffield, also former Commanding Officer of the 4th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment (Hallamshire Rifles) and former Lord Mayor of Sheffield; and also to Douglas' grandfather, Charles Anthony Branson of Broomsgrove, Sheffield (c. 1828 - 1899) who was also formerly head of the Sheffield firm of solicitors Branson and Son.
The Branson family was also connected to the prominent Stephenson Family of Sheffield by virtue of the marriage in 1891 of George Ernest Branson to Catherine Mary Stephenson, eldest daughter of Sir Henry and Lady Stephenson, of the Glen, Endcliffe Vale Road, Sheffield. Consequently, the material also relates to such figures as: Sir Henry Stephenson (c. 1827 - 1904), former Lord Mayor of Sheffield and head of the firm Stephenson, Blake and Company, typefounders, of Sheffield; and Sir Henry Kenyon Stephenson (1865 - 1947), also former Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Master Cutler and Liberal MP.
The material includes family photographs, obituaries, photographs and news-cuttings relating to the Hallamshire Battalion of the York and Lancaster Regiment and its action in the First World War (the Hallamshire were involved in battles at Ypres, the Somme and Nieuwpoort amongst others), and other miscellanea such as dinner menus for the York and Lancaster Regiment (many signed by officers, one dated 1917 labelled "Ypres"). |
| CustodialHistory | Received from Colonel G. Norton on behalf of Mrs E. A. S. Martin, niece of Sir Douglas Branson |