[1] An officer in the Warwickshire Yeomanry and honorary colonel of several volunteer and Territorial formations associated with the county, he served as an ambulance driver in the First World War.
He was educated at Harrow School and then at Trinity College, Cambridge,[2] which awarded him a BA in 1879 and a MA in 1882.
Francis became his father's heir apparent when his elder brother Gilbert died in a hunting accident in Montana in 1884.
He was appointed honorary lieutenant-colonel in the Warwickshire Yeomanry on 7 February 1906,[9] and on 16 December 1907, was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 5th (Militia) Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment (becoming the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion in the Special Reserve after the Haldane Reforms).
[15] While he supported the war effort as a Warwickshire country magnate (where he was appointed Vice Lieutenant on 3 September 1915,[16]), he also bought and equipped a Ford ambulance and drove it on the front lines.
[17] His services were recognized by several appointments and decorations: he was made a Knight of Grace of the Order of Saint John on 1 June 1922,[18] was awarded the Territorial Decoration on 2 January 1923 for long service,[19] and was made a president of the League of Mercy on 12 January 1923.