Gerald Spring Rice, 6th Baron Monteagle of Brandon (5 July 1926 – 17 November 2013) was an Anglo-Irish

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer, banker and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

peer.

Early life

Spring Rice was the son of

Charles Spring Rice, 5th Baron Monteagle of Brandon Charles Spring Rice, 5th Baron Monteagle of Brandon (28 January 1887 – 9 December 1946) was an Anglo-Irish peer. Spring Rice was the son of Francis Spring Rice, 4th Baron Monteagle of Brandon, by his first wife, Elizabeth Ann FitzGerald. He was ...

, and an American, Emilie de Kosenko. Born at the family seat of

Mount Trenchard House Mount Trenchard House is an Irish stately home located near Foynes, County Limerick, overlooking the River Shannon. It was the ancestral seat of the Rice, and subsequently Spring Rice, family. The estate was originally granted to Francis Trenc ...

, he was brought up in the family's house, Glanleam, on

Valentia Island Valentia Island () is one of Ireland's most westerly points. It lies off the Iveragh Peninsula in the southwest of County Kerry. It is linked to the mainland by the Maurice O'Neill Memorial Bridge at Portmagee. A car ferry also departs from ...

, County Kerry.''The Guards Magazine'', 'Captain The Lord Monteagle of Brandon' http://guardsmagazine.com/obits_lordmonteagle.html He was educated at Harrow School and, during the height of the U-Boat threat in 1940, at

St Columba's College, Dublin St Columba's College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school founded in 1843 located in Whitechurch, County Dublin, Ireland. Among the founders of the college were Viscount Adare (who later became The 3rd Earl of Dunraven and M ...

Career

Spring Rice received his call-up papers to join the British Army in August 1944, commissioning into the

Irish Guards ("Who Shall Separate s") , colors = , identification_symbol_2 Saffron (pipes), identification_symbol_2_label = Tartan , identification_symbol = , identification_symbol_label = Tactical Recognition F ...

. He experienced medical problems and was hospitalised for six months, missing the deployment of his battalion to the front. He attended the

Mons Officer Cadet School Mons Officer Cadet School was a British military training establishment for officer cadets in Aldershot from 1942 to 1972, when it was closed and all officer training concentrated at Sandhurst. Until 1960, it was known as the Mons Officer Cade ...

and was later deployed to Northern Ireland, Hamburg and Palestine. Spring Rice's father died in 1946 and he inherited the title

Baron Monteagle of Brandon Baron Monteagle of Brandon, in the County of Kerry, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Before his final exile, James II had intended the title to be conferred upon one of his supporters, Stephen Rice in the Jacobite peerage. Inst ...

, returning to Ireland for a year to manage the family estate. Spring Rice retired from the army with the rank of captain in July 1955 and worked for Panmure Gordon & Co. He subsequently worked at the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...

between 1958 and 1976 and at

Lloyds TSB Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an exte ...

from 1978 to 1998. He was part of the

Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms His Majesty's Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms is a bodyguard to the British Monarch. Until 17 March 1834, they were known as The Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners. Formation The corps was formed as the Troop of G ...

, the Queen's bodyguard, between 1978 and 1996. Spring Rice assumed his seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

on 8 July 1947, taking his place on the

benches. He made his maiden speech in 1992 and was an occasional contributor to debates in the chamber. Spring Rice was one of the hereditary peers who lost his right to sit in the Lords as a result of the

House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

Family and personal life

He married Anne Brownlow, the only daughter of Colonel Guy Brownlow, in 1949, with whom he had four children: * Hon. Elinor Spring Rice (born 1950), married Myles Clare Elliott on 1 June 1974. * Hon. Angela Spring Rice (1950–2015), married, firstly, Christopher Richard Seton Sheppard on 20 October 1973 (divorced 1982) and secondly Peter Alan Kirby Ottewill in 1991. * Charles Spring Rice, 7th Baron Monteagle of Brandon (born 1953), married Mary Teresa Glover in 1987. * Hon. Fiona Spring Rice (born 1957), married Andrew Louis Garber on 26 March 1982. He sold the family's last remaining house in Ireland, in County Waterford, in 2011. Lord Monteagle moved to Amesbury, Wiltshire, where he died and is buried.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monteagle Of Brandon, Gerald Spring Rice, 6th Baron 1926 births 2013 deaths 6 Eldest sons of British hereditary barons British bankers Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Graduates of the Mons Officer Cadet School Irish Guards officers People educated at Harrow School

Gerald Gerald is a male Germanic given name meaning "rule of the spear" from the prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Variants include the English given name Jerrold, the feminine nickname Jeri and the Welsh language Gerallt and Iris ...

Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms