THE OIL ON CANVAS PORTRAIT BY ACADEMY ARTIST GEORGE SPENCER WATSON & MEDALS OF SITTER, MAJ. C.A. TISDALL, IR. GUARDS

Charles Tisdall was born in Mauritius on 22 Apr 1875, the eldest son of Captain John Know Tisdall, Royal Engineers and Jane Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Adams, Esq., inheriting the Charlesfort Estate in 1895 when he was 20 years old, a total of 3962 acres in Meath, 493 in Limerick and 5775 in Kilkenny. Tisdall joined the 2nd Royal Irish Rifles from the Militia in Apr 1900 and transferred to the Irish Guards in July 1901, served in the South during the Boer War and entitled to the Queen’s South Africa Medal with two clasps, becoming Lieutenant in Feb 1902, Captain in Sept 1909 and Major in Sept 1914.

On the outbreak of war, Tisdall landed in France on 13 Aug 1914 with the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards. On 1 Sep 1914, during the retreat from Mons, the 1st Irish Guards and 2nd Coldstream Guards were holding the northern edge of the Forest of Villiers Cotterets at Rond de La Reine. Aged 39, Major Tisdall was Killed in Action, along with two other officers of the regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon G.H.Morris and Major Crichton.

The action at Villiers Cotterets is recorded in 'Who answered the Bugle Call' by Raymond Metiers:

“The 1st Bn. Irish Guards journeyed immediately on the outbreak of hostilities, as part of the British expeditionary Force. Following the disastrous battle of Mons on Monday 23rd August. The Irish Guards were functioning as rearguard during the withdrawal. They resisted firmly in a skirmish at Landrecies the following day, and in a more serious engagement in the thick woods at Villiers Cotterets. Despite the gravity at Villiers Cotterets, Kipling reminds us in his comprehensive study on the Guards that Irish humour prevailed. When the Germans began their heavy artillery fire on the troops, Lt. Col. Morris shouted out his words of encouragement ‘D'you hear that ? They're doing that to frighten you’. A voice responded ‘If that's what they're after, they might as well stop. They succeeded with me hours ago’. The Commanding Officer and his second in Command were killed, The Guards suffering a loss of one hundred men. Major Charles Arthur Tisdall also died at Villers Cotterets. There is a plaque to him in the Chuch of Ireland's parish church at Julianstown. Co. Meath.”

Tisdall is buried at Guards Grave, Villers Cotterets Forest, Aisne, France, Grave II. 2 and is commemorated at the Malvern College WW1 War Memorial. He left a wife, Gwynneth May, only child of Charles Adshead Esq., whom he married in 1904, and two daughters.

Charles's brother William Tisdall (1876-1954) inherited the Charlesfort Estate at Kells, County Meath, Ireland upon Charles's death. This portrait was a posthumous commission by William, commissioned at the same time that a 1914 sketch of his brother William Tisdall was drawn by George Spencer Watson. The artist George Spencer Watson was related to the Tisdalls by marriage. His wife Hilda was the sister of Elizabeth "Elsie" Tisdall (Nee Gardiner) (1876-1940), first wife of Charles Tisdall's brother William Tisdall (1876-1954). A portrait by the artist of a Scots Guards officer, 2nd Lieut. W.G. Houldsworth, also killed in 1914, was sold in Christies' British & European Art sale of 7 July 2020 for £13,750 hammer.