Edmund Robert Parker, 4th Earl of Morley JP (19 April 1877 – 10 October 1951), styled Viscount Boringdon from his birth until 1905, was a

British peer The peerages in the United Kingdom are a legal system comprising both hereditary and lifetime titles, composed of various noble ranks, and forming a constituent part of the British honours system. The term ''peerage'' can be used both collec ...

and

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

landowner.

Early life

Edmund Parker was the son of

Albert Parker, 3rd Earl of Morley Albert Edmund Parker, 3rd Earl of Morley PC, DL, JP (11 June 1843 – 26 February 1905), styled Viscount Boringdon until 1864, was a British peer and Liberal, later Liberal Unionist politician. Background and education Morley was the son of ...

, by his marriage to Margaret Holford. He was educated at Wixenford,

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

, and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

.Charles Mosley, ed., ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage'' (107th edition), vol. 2 (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd., 2003), p. 2777Vyvyen Brendon, ''Prep School Children: a Class Apart over Two Centuries'' (2009), p. 63 The young Viscount Boringdon was physically weak and had

dyslexia Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

. His career at Eton came to an end after only two years, following an attack of

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as Scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' a Group A streptococcus (GAS). The infection is a type of Group A streptococcal infection (Group A strep). It most commonly affects childr ...

, with his head master writing witheringly of him "Spelling ludicrous; even in words of one syllable the order of letters is often reversed". Fortunately, this was an age when difficulty in reading and writing was no obstacle to gaining entry to Cambridge, and Boringdon graduated

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in due course.

Career

Boringdon succeeded his father as

Earl of Morley Earl of Morley, of Morley in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1815 for John Parker, 2nd Baron Boringdon. At the same time he was created Viscount Boringdon, of North Molton in the County ...

on 26 February 1905 and took his seat on the

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

benches in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. He was commissioned as a

Second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry The Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. First raised in 1794, it participated in the Second Boer War and the First World War before being amalgamated with the Royal North Devon Yeomanry in 1920 to form the Royal ...

, and promoted to

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 3 May 1902. He later joined the Territorial Forces Reserve, in which he rose to the rank of captain, and was a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Devon. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he served at the headquarters of

XI Corps 11 Corps, 11th Corps, Eleventh Corps, or XI Corps may refer to: * 11th Army Corps (France) * XI Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XI Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * ...

. The 4th Earl of Morley died unmarried on 10 October 1951, to be succeeded by his younger brother Montagu Brownlow Parker, who also died unmarried in 1963. He was succeeded by the brothers' nephew, Lieutenant-Colonel John St Aubyn Parker.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morley, Edmund Parker, 4th Earl Of 1877 births 1951 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge 4 People educated at Eton College People educated at Wixenford School English landowners Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry officers