Sir Fulque Agnew, 10th Baronet

Sir Fulque Melville Gerald Noel Agnew, 10th Baronet (born 6 October 1900, Bangalore, India – died 28 August 1975, Mzuzu, Malawi) was the son of Major Charles Hamlyn Agnew (3rd son of Sir Andrew Agnew of Lochnaw, 8th Baronet, and Lady Louisa Noel or Agnew of Lochnaw, daughter of the 1st Earl of Gainsborough) and his wife Lillian Anne Wolfe Murray of Cringltie, daughter of General Sir James Wolfe Murray of Cringltie KCB, married on 30 June 1897 but they divorced in 1908.

He succeeded as 10th Baronet Agnew, of Lochnaw on the death of his uncle Sir Andrew Noel Agnew of Lochnaw, 9th Baronet, on 14 July 1928. He did not use the title in later life. On his death in 1975 he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son Crispin Agnew.

He attended Harrow School, spent a year at Heidelberg University in the mid-1930s, and graduated as BSc as a mature student at the University of Edinburgh in the 1940s.

In World War I he ran away from school at the age 17 to join the Machine Gun Corps as a private, although he was under age. He later flew in the Royal Flying Corps as a cadet; he recounted that he had a dog fight with the Red Baron, but as both aircraft had run out of ammunition both returned safely. He was commissioned as an Honorary 2nd Lt RFC 14 May 1920 [London Gazette]; he was shot down and wounded, spending a year in hospital and is said to have been Mentioned in Despatches.

After the war in 1921 he joined the 17th (later 17/21st) Lancers as a trooper with a view to obtaining a regular commission, and served in Ireland. He did not obtain a commission due to the post-war reductions in the armed forces and resigned from the 17/21st in November 1922. He joined Roger Pocock's expedition to cross the Atlantic, and left the ship in San Francisco. He then got work as an extra in Hollywood, including driving a chariot in the first Ben Hur film. He then joined the US cavalry and subsequently the US Marine Corps serving in China. In 1928 on succeeding to the baronetcy he returned to Britain and farmed in Sussex for about a year, later joining the 4th Bn East Sussex Regiment as a lieutenant before again attempting to get a regular commission. From about 1934 to 1937 he spent time in Europe: studying at Heidelberg University; walking in Southern Germany; canoeing down the Danube and walking in the Balkans. The family understood that he worked for British Intelligence during this period.

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