Roberts Road

Roberts Road in Barton Stacey was named after an illustrious British military leader.

Lord Roberts of Kandahar was born in 1832 in India and died in 1914 in France. Also called (from 1892) Baron Roberts Of Kandahar, but known affectionately as 'Bobs' by an admiring public and soldiers alike, he was among the most respected officers of the British Army.

He was an outstanding combat leader in the Second Afghan War (1878–80) and the South African War (1899–1902), and the last commander in chief of the British Army (1901–04 - the office was then abolished). Foreseeing World War I, he was one of the earliest advocates of compulsory military service.

Lord Roberts was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry in the face of the enemy while serving as a Lieutenant in the Bengal Horse Artillery (Indian Army) during the Indian Mutiny. The Victoria Cross is Britain's highest award for gallantry. In 1899, his son, Frederick Hugh Sherston Roberts, was awarded the VC posthumously for his actions at the Battle of Colenso during the South African War.

Lord Roberts is commemmorated in the poems by Rudyard Kipling, 'Bobs' written in 1898 and 'Lord Roberts' written in 1914.

Roberts Road in Barton Stacey formed part of the large married quarters area for Army units based at the former Barton Stacey camp, but now the houses are privately owned.

The following extract from Encyclopaedia Britannica Online (1999 edition) gives an outline of Lord Roberts career.

Roberts (of Kandahar, Pretoria, and Waterford), Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl, VISCOUNT ST. PIERRE. Also called (from 1892) BARON ROBERTS OF KANDAHAR (born Sept. 30, 1832, Cawnpore, India, died Nov. 14, 1914, Saint-Omer, France), British field marshal, an outstanding combat leader in the Second Afghan War (1878-80) and the South African War (1899-1902), and the last commander in chief of the British Army (1901-04; office then abolished). Foreseeing World War I, he was one of the earliest advocates of compulsory military service.

Roberts first distinguished himself during the suppression of the Indian Mutiny (1857-58). On September 1, 1880, he scored the decisive victory of the Second Afghan War, defeating Ayub Khan's Afghan Army near Qandahar. From 1885 to 1893 he was commander in chief in India. As the second British commander in chief (December 1899-November 1900) in the South African War, he ended a succession of British defeats; captured Bloemfontein, capital of the Orange Free State Republic (March 13, 1900), and annexed that Boer state as the Orange River Colony (May 24); took the cities of Johannesburg (May 31) and Pretoria (June 5); and defeated Boer commandos at Bergendal (August 27). A field marshal from 1895, he gave way to Horatio Herbert Kitchener as commander in chief in South Africa in November 1900.

Roberts was created a baron in 1892 and an earl and viscount in 1901. Both of his sons having predeceased him, the barony became extinct, but the earldom and viscounty devolved, in turn, on his elder and younger surviving daughters.

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