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{{Use British English|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Reginald Archer Gaunt
|image =
|image_size =
|alt =
|caption =
|birth_name =
|birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1870|05|25}}
|birth_place = [[Ballarat]], Australia
|death_date = 
|death_place = [[Woking]], Surrey, England
|body_discovered =
|death_cause =
|resting_place =
|resting_place_coordinates = 
|nationality = British
|citizenship =
|other_names =
|known_for = Admiral
|education =
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|years_active =
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|title =
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|party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]]
|opponents =
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|spouse = (1) Margaret Elizabeth Worthington m.1904, daughter of Sir Thomas Wardle, divorced 1927.<br />(2) Sybil Victoria Joseph, ''née'' Grant White m.1935
|partner =
|children = 2 daughters from second marriage
|parents = William Henry Gaunt and his wife Elizabeth Mary
|relations = [[Ernest Gaunt]], [[Mary Elizabeth Bakewell Gaunt]]
|callsign =
|awards = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCMG}} [[Companion of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath|CB]]
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}}
[[Admiral]] '''Sir Guy Reginald Archer Gaunt''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCMG|CB}}, (25 May 1869 – 18 May 1953)<ref name="adb"/> was an Australian-born officer of the [[Royal Navy]], counter-intelligence officer and a British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] politician.

Gaunt was born in [[Ballarat]], Australia, to William Henry Gaunt and his wife Elizabeth Mary Palmer. Gaunt's brother-in-law was [[Alexander Palmer (Australian politician)|Alexander Stenson Palmer]] (banker and M.P. for Victoria). Gaunt's brother [[Ernest Gaunt]] was also an admiral. Their sister, [[Mary Gaunt]], was a well-known author in Australia and wrote several travel books. Guy was educated at [[Melbourne Grammar School]] from 1881 to 1883.<ref name="adb"/>

==Naval career==
Gaunt's parents wanted him to become a lawyer, but he chose to go to sea. He began training for the [[merchant navy]], but transferred to the [[Royal Navy]] in 1885.

Gaunt served as a lieutenant on several vessels in the Pacific Ocean, and was promoted to the rank of [[Commander]] in 1901. He became a [[Captain (Royal Navy)|captain]] in 1907, commanding a series of [[cruisers]] and the [[battleships]] {{HMS|Majestic|1895|6}} and {{HMS|Thunderer|1911|6}}. He saw action in the Philippines in 1897 and Samoa in 1901.<ref name="adb">
{{Australian Dictionary of Biography
|first=Sally
|last=O'Neill
|id2=gaunt-sir-guy-reginald-archer-6372
|title=Gaunt, Sir Guy Reginald Archer (1869–1953)
}}</ref>

In 1914 Gaunt was appointed [[naval attaché]] to the United States,<ref name="adb"/> and was instrumental in infiltrating the [[Hindu–German Conspiracy]] during the [[First World War]]. Gaunt headed the intelligence network operated by [[Courtenay Bennett]]'s intelligence and liaised with the Czech intelligence network operated by [[E. V. Voska]]. On learning of the plot from the Czech European network at the outbreak of the war, Voska passed on the information to Gaunt and to [[Tomáš Masaryk]] who further passed on the information the American authorities.<ref>{{Harvnb|Popplewell|1995|p=237}}</ref><ref name=Masaryk50>{{Harvnb|Masaryk|1970|p=50,221,242}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Voska|Irwin|1940|p=98,108,120,122,123}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Bose|1971|p=233,233}}</ref> Voska's American network was a counter-espionage network of nearly 80 members who, as [[Habsburg]] subjects, were presumed to be German supporters but were involved in spying on German and Austrian diplomats.

When the U.S. entered the war in 1917, Gaunt was appointed as liaison officer. In 1918 he served on [[convoys]] across the Atlantic<ref>
{{cite news
|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9901E6DD1E3FE433A25754C2A9659C946996D6CF
|title=Dine Commodore Gaunt.; His India House Friends Bid Farewell to Departing Naval Attache.
|date=27 March 1918
|access-date=1 September 2014
|work=[[The New York Times]]
}}</ref> and in June was appointed to the naval intelligence staff at the Admiralty.

Gaunt was promoted on the retired list to rear admiral in October 1918,<ref name="adb"/> vice admiral in July 1924 and [[Admiral (United Kingdom)|admiral]] in February 1928. He was knighted as {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCMG}} in 1918.

==Political career==
Gaunt first stood as a candidate for parliament at the 1918 general election. He was the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] candidate for [[Leek (UK Parliament constituency)|Leek]] and despite receiving the [[Coalition Coupon]], he was unable to hold the seat.<ref>Debrett's House of Commons, 1922</ref> Gaunt was elected as [[Unionist Party (UK)|Unionist]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for the [[Buckrose (UK Parliament constituency)|Buckrose constituency]] in the [[East Riding of Yorkshire]] at the [[1922 United Kingdom general election|1922 general election]], replacing the Liberal [[Algernon Moreing]].

Gaunt resigned from the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] in 1926, when he was cited as [[co-respondent]] in the divorce case between Sir Richard Cruise and his wife.

==Family==
Gaunt married a widow, Mrs Margaret Elizabeth Worthington (daughter of Sir Thomas Wardle) at Hong Kong in 1904.<ref name="adb"/>
She divorced him in 1927 following the scandal with Lady Cruise, and he retired to [[Tangier]]. He later remarried on 1 December 1932 a 35-year-old widow, Sybil Victoria Joseph, ''née'' Grant White and had two daughters. He returned to live in [[Cobham, Surrey|Cobham]], [[Surrey]] and died at [[Woking Hospital]] on 18 May 1953 and was cremated.<ref name="adb"/>

Gaunt's autobiography, ''The Yield of the Years'', was published in 1940. His brother [[Ernest Gaunt]] was also an Admiral of the Royal Navy; his sister, [[Mary Gaunt]], was a novelist.

==References==
{{reflist}}
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Bose
| given1 = A.C
| year = 1971
| title = Indian Revolutionaries Abroad, 1905-1927
| publisher = Patna:Bharati Bhawan.
| isbn = 81-7211-123-1
}}.
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Masaryk
| given1 = T
| year = 1970
| title = Making of a State
| url = https://archive.org/details/makingofstate0000masa
| publisher = Howard Fertig
| isbn = 0-685-09575-4
| url-access = registration
}}.
*{{Citation
| surname1 = Popplewell
| given1 = Richard J
| year = 1995
| title = Intelligence and Imperial Defence: British Intelligence and the Defence of the Indian Empire 1904-1924.
| url = http://www.routledge.com/shopping_cart/products/product_detail.asp?sku=&isbn=071464580X&parent_id=&pc=
| publisher = Routledge
| isbn = 0-7146-4580-X
}}.
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Voska
| given1 = E.V
| surname2 = Irwin
| given2 = W
| year = 1940
| title = Spy and Counterspy
| publisher = New York. Doubleday, Doran & Co
}}.

==External links==
*{{DP-xlink|http://dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/Guy_Reginald_Archer_Gaunt}}
*{{Hansard-contribs | vice-admiral-sir-guy-gaunt | Guy Gaunt }}

{{S-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Buckrose (UK Parliament constituency)|Buckrose]]
| years = [[1922 United Kingdom general election|1922]]–[[1926 Buckrose by-election|1926]]
| before = [[Algernon Moreing]]
| after = [[Albert Braithwaite]]
}}
{{S-end}}

{{Hindu-German Conspiracy}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaunt, Guy Reginald Archer}}
[[Category:1870 births]]
[[Category:1959 deaths]]
[[Category:British autobiographers]]
[[Category:British expatriates in Morocco]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Hindu–German Conspiracy]]
[[Category:Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Australian politicians awarded knighthoods]]
[[Category:People educated at Melbourne Grammar School]]
[[Category:People from Cobham, Surrey]]
[[Category:Royal Navy admirals]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1922–1923]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1923–1924]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1924–1929]]
[[Category:Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates]]

Guy Gaunt - Revision history

Bot at 19:21, 6 September 2022