Francis Needham, 3rd Earl of Kilmorey

{{Short description|Anglo-Irish peer and Conservative Member of Parliament}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable

| name = The Earl of Kilmorey

| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KP|ADC}}

| image = Francis Charles Needham, Vanity Fair, 1876-10-28.jpg

| image_size =

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| alt =

| caption = "Amateur theatricals". Caricature of the Earl of Kilmorey by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1876.

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| alongside =

| birth_name = Francis Charles Needham

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1842|8|2}}

| birth_place = London, England

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1915|7|28|1842|8|2|df=y}}

| death_place = London, England

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| citizenship =

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| party = Conservative

| spouse = {{marriage|Ellen Constance Baldock|1881}}

| children = Francis Needham, 4th Earl of Kilmorey

| parents = Francis Needham, Viscount Newry
Anne Amelia Colville

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| education = Eton College

| alma_mater = Christ Church, Oxford

| occupation = Politician

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| allegiance = {{flag|United Kingdom}}

| branch = {{army|United Kingdom}}

| serviceyears = 1865–96

| rank = Colonel

| unit = Yeomanry Force

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}}

Francis Charles Needham, 3rd Earl of Kilmorey {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KP|ADC}} (2 August 1842 – 28 July 1915), styled Viscount Newry from 1851 to 1880, was an Anglo-Irish peer and Conservative Member of Parliament.{{cite news |title=Death of Lord Kilmorey |work=The Times |page=9 |date= 29 July 1915}}

Background and education

Kilmorey was the eldest son of Francis Needham, Viscount Newry, son of Francis Needham, 2nd Earl of Kilmorey. His mother was Anne Amelia Colville, daughter of General Sir Charles Colville. He attended Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford.

In 1862 (aged nineteen), Kilmorey proposed to give a ball; this was prohibited by the college authorities, chiefly by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll). The wife of Henry Liddell, the Dean of the college, had supported the ball; the Liddells' Irish residence was close to the Kilmorey seat of Mourne Park, and this favour to a family friend might have made social connections for her several daughters (including Alice). The ball and the resulting coldness between the Liddells and Carroll is mentioned in his diary as "Lord Newry's business".{{citation|last=Amor|first=Anne Clark|title=The Real Alice: Lewis Carroll's Dream Child|publisher=Stein and Day|place=New York|year=1982|page=77}} He graduated in 1864.

Political career

In 1874 he served as High Sheriff of Down and was then elected to the House of Commons for Newry in 1871, a seat he held until 1874. In 1880 he succeeded his grandfather as Earl of Kilmorey, but as this was an Irish peerage it did not entitle him to an automatic seat in the House of Lords. However, the following year Kilmorey was elected an Irish representative peer, and sat in the House of Lords until his death in 1915. In 1890 he was made a Knight of the Order of St Patrick.

Military career

As Viscount Newry, he was commissioned Cornet in the North Shropshire Yeomanry Cavalry in 1865,{{cite book|last=Gladstone|first=E.W.|title=The Shropshire Yeomanry 1795–1945, The Story of a Volunteer Cavalry Regiment|year=1953|publisher=The Whitethorn Press|page=97}} then promoted Captain in 1871,{{cite book|last=Gladstone|first=E.W.|title=The Shropshire Yeomanry 1795–1945|page=98}} before the Cavalry were merged into the unified Shropshire Yeomanry regiment. He continued in the latter, being promoted Major in 1883{{cite book|last=Gladstone|first=E.W.|title=The Shropshire Yeomanry 1795–1945|page=109}} and becoming Lieutenant-Colonel in command of the regiment in 1889.{{cite book|last=Gladstone|first=E.W.|title=The Shropshire Yeomanry, 1795–1945|page=115}}

He retired in 1896 and was made Honorary Colonel of the regiment.{{cite book|last=Gladstone|first=E.W.|title=The Shropshire Yeomanry, 1795–1945|page=121}}

After the accession of King Edward VII in 1901, Lord Kilmorey was appointed Aide-de-camp (Supernumerary) to His Majesty for the service of His Yeomanry Force. He also received the rank of colonel in the Yeomanry Force.{{London Gazette |issue=27295 |date=19 March 1901 |page=1942}}

Personal life

Lord Kilmorey married in 1881 Ellen Constance Baldock, daughter of Edward Holmes Baldock (MP for Shrewsbury). She was a renowned beauty who caused a scandal by being bequeathed the 'Teck emeralds' among other jewels, from her lover, Prince Francis of Teck, brother of Queen Mary.{{cite news|title=Philandering Prince Frank set seal on wills|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1546900/Philandering-Prince-Frank-set-seal-on-wills.html|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=28 March 2007}} She also reputedly had a liaison with Edward VII, a frequent visitor to the Kilmorey estates at Mourne Park, County Down.

Lord Kilmorey died in July 1915, aged 72, of pleurisy and pneumonia at his Mayfair townhouse at 5 Aldford Street. He was buried at Kilkeel, County Down. He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son Francis.{{cite book|title=The Complete Peerage, Volume VII|year=1929|publisher=St Catherine's Press|page=264}} Lady Kilmorey died in 1920.