Lieutenant-Colonel J Mount Batten

This photo was published in the Navy & Army Illustrated 15 March 1902, with this caption:
‘Colonel Mount-Batten, commanding the 3rd Battalion of the King’s (Liverpool Regiment), is an ex-officer of the regular army, from which he retired in 1887. He succeeded to the command of the 3rd “King’s” in 1894. His battalion has been twice embodied in connection with the War, the first time from January to October 1900, and again on December 2, 1901. The 3rd “King’s” left for South Africa with twenty-one officers and 536 men, and may confidently be expected to add to the excellent record already achieved by the 1st Line battalion.’
John Mount Batten was born on 7 April 1843, the eldest son of John Batten JP FSA of Somerset. His mother was Grace Eleanor (née White). He was educated at Winchester and was commissioned as an ensign in the 1st Battalion, King’s Regiment on 31 Dec 1861, promoted to lieutenant on 11 July 1865. The army list of 1870 shows him as Adjutant of the 2nd Battalion. He was promoted to captain on 31 Oct 1871 and seconded as Adjutant of the 1st Admin Battalion, Dorsetshire Rifle Volunteers. By 1880 he was no longer on the army list in the King’s Regiment, having transferred to another regiment, and retired from active service with the rank of major on 9 March 1887. On 1 Oct 1894 he was appointed lieutenant-colonel in command of the 3rd Militia Battalion, King’s Liverpool Regiment (formerly the Duke of Lancaster’s Own Rifles).
He was a landowner holding several posts in Dorset, JP, High Sheriff, Alderman of Dorset County Council, and Lord Lieutenant for Dorset and Poole. He was married twice; first to Margaret Brooks in 1873 but she died in 1893. He married again in 1895, to Mary Edith Sant who was widowed from H F Nalder. They had a son and four daughters. Their home was at Upcerne, inherited from his father, at Cerne Abbas, Dorset. He also had a London residence at Mornington Lodge, West Kensington. He was not related to the Princes of Battenberg who changed their name to Mountbatten in 1917. Colonel John Mount Batten died on 5 March 1916.

Regimental Details | Soldiers