Humphry Legge, 8th Earl of Dartmouth, (14 March 1888 – 16 October 1962) 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 police officer. Legge was the youngest son of the

William Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth William Heneage Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth, (6 May 1851 – 11 March 1936), styled Viscount Lewisham between 1853 and 1891, was a British peer and Conservative politician. He served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household between 1885 and 1886 ...

. 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 as a

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

and was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

in 1919 and

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. On 10 April 1923, he married Roma Ernestine Horlick, the eldest daughter of Sir Ernest Horlick, 2nd Baronet. Together they had two children, Gerald Legge, 9th Earl of Dartmouth (1924–1997), and Hon. Heather Margaret Mary (born 1925, married

Rognvald Herschell, 3rd Baron Herschell Rognvald Richard Farrer Herschell, 3rd Baron Herschell (13 September 1923 – 26 October 2008) was a British hereditary peer and politician. Life He succeeded his father to the peerage in 1929, and thus enjoyed his peerage for 79 years. He lo ...

). In 1932, Legge was appointed chief constable of

Berkshire Constabulary Berkshire Constabulary is a former Home Office police force which was responsible for policing the county of Berkshire in Southern England. Berkshire Constabulary was merged with four other adjacent police forces in 1968 to form the Thames Valley ...

after having been assistant chief constable of

Staffordshire Constabulary Staffordshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands of England. It is made up of eleven Local Policing Teams, whose boundaries are matched to the nine local authori ...

from 1928 to 1932. In the 1946 New Years Honours, Legge was awarded the

King's Police and Fire Services Medal The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider British Empire, including Commonwealth countries, most of which now have their own hono ...

(KPFSM). In 1947, he was appointed a

Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Monarchy of Canada, Canadian monarch, Mon ...

. He retired as Chief Constable in 1953. In 1958, he inherited his brother's titles and died four years later, being succeeded by his son

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 Iri ...

References

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* 1888 births 1962 deaths British Chief Constables Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Companions of the Distinguished Service Order 8 Royal Navy officers English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Royal Navy officers of World War I

Humphry Humphry is a masculine given name and surname. It comes from the Old Germanic name Hunfrid, which means "friend of the hun". The name may refer to: People First name *Humphry Berkeley (1926–1994), British politician * Humphry Bowen (1929–20 ...

Younger sons of earls {{GB-earl-stub