John Colomb

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir John Colomb, KCMG (1838 - May 27, 1909), younger brother of British Vice-Admiral Philip Howard Colomb, was closely associated in the pioneer work done for British naval strategy and Imperial defence, and his name stands no less high among those who during this period promoted accurate thinking on the subject of sea-power.

Entering the Royal Marines in 1854, he rose to be captain in 1867, retiring in 1869; and thenceforth he devoted himself to the study of naval and military problems, on which he had already published some excellent essays.

His books on Colonial Defence and Colonial Opinions (1873), The Defence of Great and Greater Britain (1879), Naval Intelligence and the Protection of Commerce (1881), The Use and the Application of Marine Forces (1883), Imperial Federation: Naval and Military (1887), followed later by other similar works, made him well known among the rising school of Imperialists, and he was returned to parliament (1886-1892) as Conservative member for Bow, and afterwards (1895-1906) for Great Yarmouth.

In 1887 he was created CMG, and in 1888 KCMG. He died in London on the 27th of May 1909. In Kerry, Ireland, he was a large landowner, and became a member of the Irish privy council (1903), and in 1906 he sat on the Royal Commission dealing with congested districts.


This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

[edit] References

  • Columb, J.C.R., The Defense of Great and Greater Britain: Sketches of Its Naval, Military and Political Aspects, E. Stanford, 1880, 264 pages.
  • d'Egville, Howard, Imperial Defence and Closer Union: A Short Record of the Life Work of Sir John Colomb and of the Movement Toward Imperial Organization, London, 1913.
  • Schurman, D.M., The Education of a Navy: The Development of British Naval Strategic Thought 1867-1914, London, 1965, pp. 16-35.
  • Kennedy, Greg, Neilson, Keith and Schurman, D.M., eds., Far-Flung Lines: Essays on Imperial Defence in Honour of Donald Mackenzie Schurman, London: Frank Cass, 1997, pp. 31-34.
  • Gat, Azar, A History of Military Thought Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 474-477.
  • Hobson, Rolf, Imperialism at Sea, Brill. 2002. pp. 87-90.