Maurice Swynfen Fitzmaurice

Vice-Admiral Sir Maurice Swynfen Fitzmaurice, (12 August 1870 – 23 January 1927) was an officer of the Royal Navy.

He served in a number of campaigns in Africa, being twice mentioned in despatches, and had risen to the rank of captain prior to the outbreak of World War I. He served in the Mediterranean, where his ship was sunk by a submarine, and was later appointed to a number of staff posts. He collected a number of awards for his services in the war, and after its end became Director of Naval Intelligence. He died in 1927 while serving as Commander in Chief, Africa, located in Simonstown.

Career Maurice Fitzmaurice was born on 12 August 1870, the son of John Gerald Fitzmaurice and Florence Augusta Marian Boyrenson.

He entered the British Navy and took part in the Gambia Campaign in 1894. For his services in this conflict he was mentioned in despatches. and in February 1903 was posted to the HMS President as an advisor on gunnery for ships building at contractors. Promotion to captain followed on 30 June 1910.

During World War I he captained the battleship , from 5 August 1914 until her loss during the Dardanelles Campaign in 1915. He was picked up by a destroyer after several minutes in the water, apparently with his monocle still firmly in place. and was Director of Naval Intelligence between 1921 and 1924, after which he became commander in chief on the Africa Station on 12 December 1924.

Family and personal life Fitzmaurice was a keen musician, and a Director of the Royal Academy of Music, a member of the Royal College of Organists, and a Fellow of the Royal Philharmonic Society. He played the organ, and enjoyed the works of J. S. Bach.

Fitzmaurice married Mabel Gertrude Gray, the daughter of Samuel Gray, a pastoralist and politician in New South Wales, on 13 October 1896. The couple had two children: Gerald Gray Fitzmaurice (born 24 October 1901; rose to be a distinguished judge) and Maurice James Fitzmaurice (born 1 January 1903; joined the Royal Air Force; attained the rank of Pilot Officer but died in a flying accident on 14 July 1923).