Capt. Cecil Henry Hazell 

"This photograph of Capt. Cecil Hazell and Capt. Desmond Carroll is thought to have been taken by a visitor to Dunmore from Liverpool, a person who stayed at the Ocean Hotel every summer, although I acquired it from a post by Avril Horgan on the I Am Dunmore East Facebook page.

At the time the photo was taken, steps led from the quay up to the top wall, where the sheds on the quay ended. That is where they were sitting—a favourite spot, with a great view of anything happening, either out at sea or in the dock.

A good deal is known about Capt. Carroll’s career as commander of the S.S. Shark during the Second World War and later as harbourmaster in Dunmore East, but much less is known about Capt. Hazell, at least by me. However, with the help of David Carroll, I have gathered together enough information to write a short profile of his life." 

Captain Cecil Hazell: From Connemara to Dunmore East.

Among the men pictured with the Dunmore East lifeboat crew during the 1960s is a tall, quietly distinguished figure identified simply as Captain Cecil Hazell. By then, he was an older man whose earlier life had been led far beyond the village. He had grown up in a substantial Connemara household, served as an officer in the Royal Marines and reportedly worked overseas before eventually becoming part of the maritime life of Dunmore.

Although his brother, Major Thomas Falcon Hazell, became internationally known as one of the leading fighter pilots of the First World War, Cecil’s story is less well documented. What survives is a mixture of official records, local photographs and memories—enough to reveal a man who had spent much of his life around soldiers, sailors, yachtsmen and lifeboat crews.

A Connemara Childhood

Cecil Henry Hazell was born in County Galway in about 1895, the son of Thomas Hazell and Cecil Isabell Hazell, née Buckley, daughter of Captain Cecil William Buckley VC. His mother and grandfather shared his first name. The family was closely connected with Cashel and Roundstone in Connemara. Cashel House, now a well-known hotel, had been built in the nineteenth century for an earlier Captain Thomas Hazell. The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage dates the house to approximately 1835–45 and records that Geoffrey Emerson built it for Thomas Hazell of the Doon House Association. The hotel’s own history places its construction in 1840 and describes the Hazells as landowners and agents involved in the Connemara kelp trade.

The house is remembered as having eighteen rooms, although the terminology used in the 1901 census returns doesn’t necessarily correspond to the number of rooms understood locally or described in later accounts.

The census does provide a revealing glimpse of Cecil’s childhood. His father, Thomas, was then 44 and was described as a land agent and magistrate. His mother was 34. Their children in the house were Frances, aged ten; Falcon, aged eight; Cecil, aged six; April, aged four; and the infant Arthur. Frances, Falcon, Cecil and April Dorothy were all recorded as scholars. Even at six years of age, Cecil was listed as being able to read and write. Another sibling, Phyllis Maud wasn’t recorded at the time.

The family’s comfortable circumstances would have placed the children in a very different world from that experienced by most Connemara families at the beginning of the twentieth century. Their upbringing included domestic servants and private education. Cecil does not appear with the family in the 1911 Irish census, and it is likely that he was by then attending school outside Ireland.

Falcon Hazell

Cecil’s older brother was Thomas Falcon Hazell, generally known as Tom or Falcon. Born in Roundstone in 1892, Falcon attended Tonbridge School in Kent and joined the South Irish Horse at the outbreak of the First World War. He was subsequently commissioned into the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers before transferring to the Royal Flying Corps.

Falcon became one of the most successful fighter pilots of the war. Flying Nieuports and later the S.E.5a, he was credited with 43 aerial victories, including enemy aircraft and observation balloons. His decorations included the Distinguished Service Order, Military Cross and Distinguished Flying Cross with Bar.

Among his most remarkable encounters was a battle in August 1918 in which he attacked a German observation balloon defended by Fokker fighters led by the celebrated German ace Ernst Udet. Falcon’s aircraft was badly damaged and its fuel tank pierced, but he managed to return and land safely. Udet believed that the British pilot had crashed and claimed him as a victory.

By the closing months of the war, Falcon held the acting rank of major and commanded No. 203 Squadron RAF. He remained in the RAF after the war, eventually retiring as a squadron leader in 1927. He died in County Mayo in 1946.

Falcon’s fame has inevitably overshadowed Cecil’s life. Yet both brothers appear to have possessed the same willingness to enter dangerous and demanding forms of service: one in the air and the other first as a Royal Marine and later as a member of a lifeboat crew.

Service in the Royal Marines

Cecil Henry Hazell received a temporary commission in the Royal Marines dated 19 September 1914, shortly after the outbreak of war. His appointment was formally recorded in the London Gazette.

Later accounts state that he rose to the rank of captain and resigned his commission in 1919. Details of his wartime postings remain difficult to establish. It is not known whether he served principally aboard ship, at a naval establishment or with Royal Marine forces ashore. He is also reported to have later worked as a colonial District Commissioner.

Coming to Dunmore East

By the early 1960s, Captain Hazell had become a familiar figure in Dunmore East. Precisely what first attracted him to the village is uncertain.

His eldest sister, Frances, later Mrs Patterson, lived in the well-known house on Long’s Hill that local people long feared might eventually slip or fall into the sea. It is possible that Frances’s presence initially brought Cecil to Dunmore East.

Local recollection, however, suggests that the brother and sister were not on speaking terms. The circumstances of any disagreement are unknown, and the suggestion should be treated as village memory rather than established fact. Nevertheless, families are rarely straightforward, and Cecil may have come to Dunmore because of his sister while maintaining little or no contact with her.

He lived in digs beside Paddy “Billy” Power, the celebrated Dunmore East lifeboat coxswain. This placed him close to one of the central figures in the village’s maritime community and may have helped draw him into the work of the lifeboat station.

A Paid Hand Aboard Yachts

Captain Hazell also earned additional money by working as a paid hand aboard private yachts.

There was a steady demand for experienced sailors in Dunmore East at that time. Wealthy yacht owners did not always wish to undertake the full voyage to places such as West Cork themselves. Instead, they could employ capable hands to sail their yachts to the chosen holiday destination, joining the vessels later once the more laborious part of the journey had been completed.

Cecil’s naval background, rank and practical experience would have made him well suited to this work. He would have been trusted to handle valuable boats and to deal with the changing weather and difficult coastal waters between Dunmore East and West Cork.

The later redevelopment of Dunmore East Harbour changed the character of the port. During the harbour development years, visiting yachts no longer used the harbour in quite the same way. The reduction in yacht traffic may have diminished Cecil’s opportunities as a paid hand and may have contributed to his eventual decision to return to his native Connemara. This remains a plausible explanation rather than a documented certainty.

The Jan Brons Rescue

Captain Hazell’s most clearly documented service in Dunmore East came during the dramatic rescue of the crew of the Dutch coaster Jan Brons in March 1964.

The vessel was in serious danger in extremely severe weather. The Dunmore East lifeboat went to her assistance in a gale and heavy seas. Because of the conditions and the position of the coaster, the rescuers used both a breeches buoy and the lifeboat’s boarding boat.

Four men were transferred first by boarding boat, while a further two were eventually removed by breeches buoy. The lifeboat laboured heavily throughout the operation, and the station’s honorary secretary, Arthur Westcott-Pitt, suffered three broken ribs.

The RNLI awarded Captain C. H. Hazell a certificate for his part in the rescue, which was an important recognition. Hazell may have been an experienced former military officer, but during the rescue he was one member of a crew working under the authority of Paddy Billy Power. Whatever his earlier rank or social background, aboard the lifeboat his value depended upon his ability to do his part in dangerous conditions.

Return to Connemara

Captain Hazell appears eventually to have left Dunmore East and returned to the Roundstone area. The changes to the harbour and the decline in opportunities aboard visiting yachts may have played a part, although age, family connections and a natural wish to return to Connemara could have been equally important.

His mother had died as a widow in 1939 at the hospice in Harold’s Cross, Dublin. His brother Falcon died in 1946 and was buried at Burrishoole Church of Ireland Cemetery near Newport.

Frances remained connected with Dunmore East until her death in 1975 and is buried there. Cecil’s burial place remains unknown to me.

A Life Between Two Coasts

Captain Cecil Hazell lived in the shadow of an exceptionally famous brother, but his own story deserves to be remembered. From a privileged childhood at Cashel House to service in the Royal Marines, from colonial administration to yacht work, and from the quays of Dunmore East to the rescue of the Jan Brons, his life crossed many different worlds.

In Dunmore, he was not remembered primarily as the brother of a fighter ace. He was Captain Hazell—the former officer lodging near Paddy Billy, earning a few pounds aboard the yachts and answering the call when the lifeboat was needed.

That line places him firmly within the history of Dunmore East. In March 1964, Captain Cecil Hazell went to sea with Paddy Billy Power and the crew of the Annie Blanche Smith. In a full gale, they helped bring six men safely from the Jan Brons.

For a man whose life remains partly hidden, it is a fitting record: when the call came, he was aboard the lifeboat.

Sources:

https://cashelhouse.ie/history/

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29772/page/9556/data.pdf

https://rnliarchive.blob.core.windows.net/media/1397/0410.pdf

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/30204/supplement/7630/data.pdf

https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Life_and_Times_of_Major_Thomas_Falco.html?id=UIXsEQAAQBAJ&

https://www.cwgc.org/

https://nationalarchives.ie/collections/search-the-census/about-the-census-collections/census-1901/