George Orby Wombwell

Sir George Orby Wombwell, 4th Baronet (23 November 1832 – 16 October 1913), was a British hereditary titleholder. He was born on 23 November 1832 as the son of Sir George Wombwell, 3rd Baronet. His education included attendance at Eton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

In 1852, Wombwell was commissioned as a cornet into the 17th Lancers. During his military career, he served as an aide-de-camp to Lord Cardigan. He participated in the Crimean War and was a survivor of the Charge of the Light Brigade. During the charge, he reached the artillery guns when his horse was killed. Subsequently, he was dismounted and captured by Russian forces; however, he managed to escape, catch another horse, and return to British lines while being pursued by Russian forces. He held the rank of lieutenant upon his retirement from the army in 1855.

Upon his father's death in 1855, Wombwell inherited the baronetcy as the 4th Baronet and acquired Newburgh Priory, an estate located in Coxwold, North Yorkshire. This estate historically served as the seat of the Belasyse family. The estate encompassed properties including Over Silton Manor, where the initials GOW (George Orby Wombwell) are visible on one of the cottages, and High House in Thornton-on-the-Hill. In 1861, Wombwell was appointed High Sheriff of Yorkshire.

He married Lady Julia Sarah Alice Child-Villiers on 3 September 1861. She was the daughter of George Child-Villiers, 6th Earl of Jersey, and Julia Peel. Their marriage produced five children: two sons and three daughters. His sons were George Wombwell (1865–1889), who served as a lieutenant in the King's Royal Rifle Corps and died in Meerut, India, and Stephen Frederick Wombwell (1867–1901), a lieutenant in the Yorkshire Hussars who died of Enteric fever in Vryburg, South Africa, while serving as a captain with the Imperial Yeomanry during the Second Boer War. Their daughters included Julia Georgiana Wombwell, who married Vesey Dawson, 2nd Earl of Dartrey, in 1890, and later John St Aubyn, 2nd Baron St Levan; Mabel Caroline Wombwell, who married Henry Robert Hohler; and Cecilia Clementina Wombwell, who married William Menzies.

At the time of his death, Wombwell was recognized as the last surviving officer of the Charge of the Light Brigade. He was interred in Coxwold churchyard. His title and the approximately 12,000-acre estate passed to his younger brother, Henry Herbert Wombwell.

A portrait of Sir George Wombwell, 4th Baronet, is extant. The references include editions of Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, and The Complete Peerage and Baronetage of Great Britain and Ireland. External sources include online genealogical and peerage databases.