Colonel Geoffrey Hardinge Phipps-Hornby, CBE, (4 Apr 1889 – 23 February 1967) was a British Army officer and international polo player.

Biography He was born on 4 April 1889, the son of Captain Geoffrey Stanley Phipps-Hornby, an officer of the Rifle Brigade, and his wife Jessie (née Gunston), members of a distinguished family of landed gentry.Adams – Birley – Hornby: Col. Geoffrey Hardinge Phipps Hornby C.B.E. He was the grandson of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Geoffrey Phipps Hornby,Adams – Birley – Hornby: Capt. Geoffrey Stanley Phipps Hornby J.P. great-grandson of Admiral Sir Phipps Hornby,Adams – Birley – Hornby: Admiral of the Fleet Sir Geoffrey Thomas Phipps Hornby G.C.B., J.P. great-great-grandson of General John Burgoyne,Adams – Birley – Hornby: Lady Maria Sophia Burgoyne nephew of General Edmund Phipps-Hornby, VC, and Admiral Robert Phipps Hornby,See children of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Geoffrey Thomas Phipps Hornby G.C.B., J.P. and great-nephew of Captain Cowper Coles,Brother of Emily Frances Coles designer of the ill-fated HMS Captain, and James Hornby, headmaster of Eton.See children of Admiral Sir Phipps Hornby G.C.B Cousins on his father's side included the Rt. Rev. Hugh Leycester Hornby,See children of Admiral Sir Phipps Hornby G.C.B the latter's son Richard Hornby, MP, and the Earls of Derby and other members of the Stanley family.By way of his great-great-grandmother, the Hon. Lucy Stanley On his mother's side, he was a cousin of Sir Derrick Gunston.

He grew up at Sandley Hall, near Gillingham in Dorset, where his father, after retiring from the Army, was joint owner and manager of the Compton Stud, breeding thoroughbreds and hunters.Racing Illustrated (1896), 3, No. 53 (1 Jul), p. 5 He was educated at EtonVaughan, E.L. (1921). List of Etonians who Fought in the Great War 1914 – 1919. London: Privately printed for Eton College by P. Lee Warner. p. 200 and Sandhurst and, on passing out from Sandhurst in 1909, was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade as a Second Lieutenant.London Gazette (1909), 28224 (16 Feb), p. 1223 He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1911London Gazette (1911), 28490 (2 May), p. 3328 and, in 1912, was transferred to the 9th (Queen's Royal) Lancers,London Gazette (1912), 28605 (7 May), p. 3282 with whom he spent the rest of his career. On the outbreak of the Great War, he was seconded for service on the StaffLondon Gazette (1914), 28881 (28 Aug), p. 6795 and served as ADC to Brigadier-General (later General) de Lisle, Commander of 2nd Cavalry Brigade during the Great Retreat.Coleman, Frederic (1916). From Mons to Ypres with French: A Personal Narrative. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company. p. 106 He was promoted to captain in May 1915London Gazette (1915), 29198 (18 Jun, Supplement), p. 5951 and was slightly wounded by a shell splinter while on the staff of Brig.-Gen. Mullens, who had succeeded de Lisle as commander of 2nd Cavalry Brigade on the latter's promotion to the command of 1st Cavalry Division.Coleman, Frederic (1916). From Mons to Ypres with French: A Personal Narrative. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company. p. 256 He returned to his regiment later in 1915,London Gazette (1915), 29298 (14 Sep, Third Supplement), p. 9201 and was promoted to Acting Major in 1917London Gazette (1917), 29946 (13 Feb, Seventh Supplement), p. 1625 and Brevet Major in 1919.London Gazette (1919), 31370 (30 May, Fifth Supplement), p. 6815 He was mentioned in despatches three times (in 1915,London Gazette (1915), 29072 (16 Feb, Second Supplement), p. 1653 1916London Gazette (1916), 29623 (13 Jun, Second Supplement), p. 5926 and 1919London Gazette (1919), 31435 (4 Jul, Supplement), p. 8503) and was awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre in 1918.London Gazette (1918), 30631 (12 Apr, Fourth Supplement), p. 4525

Leaving active service for the Reserve of Officers after the war, he returned to his family who were, by that time, living in Somerton Erleigh in Somerset.Walford, Edward (1919). The County Families of the United Kingdom; or, Royal Manual of the Titled and Untitled Aristocracy of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, 59th Ed. London: Spottiswood, Ballantyne and Co. p. 680 A stained glass window in the north aisle of the Church of St Michael and All Angels, Somerton, was commissioned by his family in thanks for his safe return from the war that had taken so many of his relations.Somerset Historic Environment Record: 54478, Church of St Michael and churchyard, Somerton On 22 July 1924, he married Rosie Eileen May Daly, daughter of Major Denis St. George Daly of the 18th Hussars, with whom he had two daughters.Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh, Ed. (1976). Burke's Irish Family Records. London: Burke's Peerage Ltd. p. 318

He was an accomplished point-to-point rider and a 7-goal handicap polo player.Laffaye, Horace A. (2015). The Polo Encyclopedia, 2nd Ed. Jefferson: McFarland and Co. p. 291 He won numerous polo trophies, including Ranelagh Open Challenge Cup (twice) and the Roehampton Trophy on five occasions (in 1914 with the Old Etonians, 1926 with Templeton, 1929 with the Pilgrims, 1934 with the Panthers and 1950 with Sussex). While a spectator of the 1931 final of the Ranelagh Open Challenge Cup, he replaced an injured member of one of the teams, wearing leather chaps over his flannel trousers.Laffaye, Horace A. (2012). Polo in Britain: A History. Jefferson: McFarland and Co. pp. 130–131 He was a member of the British team that was beaten by the United States of America for the Westchester Cup in 1924.Laffaye, Horace A. (2011). Polo in the United States: A History. Jefferson: McFarland and Co. p. 120

In addition to his Regular Army service, he was an officer in the North Somerset Yeomanry, the yeomanry being the mounted contingent of the Territorial Army. He resigned his commission in the TA in 1928.London Gazette (1928), 33400 (3 Jul), p. 4499

In April 1939, on reaching the normal age limit for liability for recall, he was removed from the Reserve of Officers,London Gazette (1939), 34628 (23 May), p. 3473 but returned to active service on the outbreak of the Second World War, during which he was promoted to Colonel. He was again mentioned in despatches in 1945London Gazette (1945), 37072 (10 May, Supplement), p. 2456 and was appointed a CBE in 1946.London Gazette (1946), 37442 (22 Jan, Supplement), p. 615 He spent his final years with his wife and their PekingesesBritish Pathé: Racing Pekes on the Phipps-Hornby family estate in Lordington, near Chichester, West Sussex, (of which much of the land had been sold)Parks and Gardens UK: Lordington, Chichester, England where he died in 1967.

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