Captain Harry Plumridge Levita
Harry Plumridge Levita was born in Lancashire in 1862. He was the elder brother of Sir Cecil Bingham Levita. Their father was Emile Levita, a descendant of Elijah Levita who wrote the first novel in Yiddish. Emile arrived in Manchester in 1844 and became a prominent banker and merchant, both in Manchester and London. He obtained British citizenship in 1871 and was director of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China. He was married to Katherine Plumridge Rée from the Danish-Jewish Rée family. Emile and Katherine lived in the country and owned a grouse moor in Wales. One of their descendants was Enid Levita, paternal grandmother of David Cameron.
Harry Plumridge Levita, son of Emile and Katherine, Joined the KDG as a lieutenant on 23 Aug 1884. Promoted to captain on 5 Aug 1891. He was on the Sudan Expedition of 1885 with the 19th Hussars (12 Nov 1884). He reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel serving in the yeomanry. The London Gazette of 14 Jan 1918 listed him as commanding the Eastern Command Depot. The DNW auction of 28th & 29th March 2012 included Lot 1096, Lieutenant-Colonel Levita’s Order of St Stanislaus, 2nd Class. Neck badge and breast star.
Harry was married to Constance Mary Ellison from London. They lived at 27 Ennismore Gardens, South West London. He was Fellow of the Zoological Society and a member of the Naval and Military Club in Piccadilly. One of their children was Francis Ellison Levita who was involved in the Curragh Incident. He was a lieutenant in the 4th Hussars who became an early casualty of World War One. He was killed in action on 12 Oct 1914 at Godewaersvelde. Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Levita died in 1919. The photo shows Captain Levita in regimental frock coat and pill box forage cap, in Norwich in 1894.