John Clotworthy Talbot Foster Whyte-Melville-Skeffington, 13th Viscount Massereene and 6th Viscount Ferrard DL (22 October 1914 – 27 December 1992) was a British politician and landowner. He was also Baron of Loughneagh (1660, Ireland), 6th Baron Oriel (1790, Ireland), and 6th Baron Oriel (1821, UK), and served as a Deputy Lieutenant for

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

. He succeeded his father in 1956 and regularly attended 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 ...

Early years

Educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

, in 1939 Whyte-Melville-Skeffington married Annabelle Kathleen, daughter of the late Henry D. Lewis, of

Combwell Priory Combwell Priory was a priory near Bedgebury Cross about 10 miles southeast of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. History This is a Grade II listed building. It was founded as an abbey by Robert de Turneham in the reign of Henry II but in 1220 i ...

, Kent. They had one son, the future 14th Viscount and one daughter. He was a lieutenant in the

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regime ...

regiment 1933–36, and again in 1939, invalided out in 1940 due to wounds received in action. He served in the Small Vessels Pool,

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 ...

, in 1944. He was Gold Staff Officer at the Coronation of Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

in 1953.

Political activities

Viscount Masserene and Ferrard was President of Brighton Kemptown Conservative Association, and Vice-President and Treasurer of the Ashford, Kent, Conservative Division. He was a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Delegation to Spain in 1960, and Commodore of the House of Lords Yacht Club, 1972 - 1985. He was Joint Deputy Chairman (1965 - 1970) and Whip of the Conservative Peers Committee (IUP) in the

1965 - 1970. Lord Masserene and Ferrard was responsible for introducing to Parliament the Deer Act in 1963, the Export of Animals for Research Bill 1968, the Riding Establishments Act 1970, the Valerie Mary Hill and Alan Monk (Marriage Enabling) Bill 1984, and moved debates on Overseas Information Services and other matters. He was Commissioner to the Hunterston Ore Terminal Hearing, Glasgow, 1973. In 1976, he was on the parliamentary delegation to

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

, and the same year served on the Parliamentary Select committee on the

Anglian Water Anglian Water is a water company that operates in the East of England. It was formed in 1989 under the partial privatisation of the water industry. It provides water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment to the area formerly the responsibilit ...

Authority Bill. He was for over twenty years an active member of the

Conservative Monday Club The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) is a British political pressure group, aligned with the Conservative Party, though no longer endorsed by it. It also has links to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unioni ...

. In 1981, he succeeded the 6th Marquess of Salisbury as Club President, a post he held until January 1991, when he stood down.

Business and other activities

Lord Massereene was the driver of the leading British car in the Le Mans Grand Prix D'endurance in 1937, and promoted the first scheduled air service between Glasgow- Oban- Isle of Mull, 1968. He was a

Freeman Freeman, free men, or variant, may refer to: * a member of the Third Estate in medieval society (commoners), see estates of the realm * Freeman, an apprentice who has been granted freedom of the company, was a rank within Livery companies * Free ...

of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

, and a liveryman of the Shipwrights' Company. He was one of the original pioneers in the commercial development of Cape Canaveral, and a director of numerous companies. He was for some time a member of the Senechal Council of Canterbury Cathedral, a member of the

Royal Yacht Squadron The Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) is a British yacht club. Its clubhouse is Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the suffix RYS to their names, and are permitted (with the appropriate warrant) to w ...

, and a Vice-President of the Kent branch of the

Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ...

. He was also chairman of the

Victoria League The Victoria League for Commonwealth Friendship (1901–present) is a voluntary charitable organisation that connects people from Commonwealth countries. There are currently branches in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand with affiliated organisatio ...

, Kent.

Estates

A very extensive landowner, his English seat was at Chilham Castle,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. The Norman Keep of the Castle, which is the oldest building in the village and still inhabited, dates from 1174 and was said to have been built for King Henry II. But archaeological excavations carried out in the 1920s suggest that it stands on the foundations of a much older Anglo-Saxon fortification, possibly dating from the 5th century, and there is evidence of earlier Roman habitation in the vicinity. The Jacobean building, now known as the Castle, was constructed in 1616 for Sir Dudley Digges, reputedly to a design by Inigo Jones. It is one of the finer mansions in the south-east and commands exceptional views across the valley of the

River Stour, Kent The River Stour is a river in Kent, England that flows into the North Sea at Pegwell Bay. Above Plucks Gutter, where the Little Stour joins it, the river is normally known as the Great Stour. The upper section of the river, above its confluenc ...

. The gardens, originally laid out by

John Tradescant the elder John Tradescant the Elder (; c. 1570s – 15–16 April 1638), father of John Tradescant the Younger, was an English naturalist, gardener, collector and traveller. On 18 June 1607 he married Elizabeth Day of Meopham in Kent, England. She had been ...

, were redesigned in the 18th century under the guidance of Capability Brown and include a fine terrace leading down to a fishing lake. The walls to the grounds also date from this time (1720), although the two gatehouses were only added in the 1920s He also owned the Knock estate on the Isle of Mull, as well as estates in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, notably

Antrim Castle Antrim Castle or Massereene Castle was a fortified mansion in Antrim, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on the banks of the Sixmilewater River. It was built in stages between 1613 and 1662. It was destroyed by fire in 1922 and finally demolish ...

near the Six Mile Water in county Antrim,

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

. It was set alight in a night time raid by the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief th ...

(IRA) in 1922 and destroyed. Massereene was in the castle with his parents at the time. All that remains is an octagonal tower.

Publications

* Massereene & Ferrard, The Viscount, ''The Lords'' - The History of the

and its function and role in the 20th century, (Foreword by The

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone Quintin McGarel Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, (9 October 1907 – 12 October 2001), known as the 2nd Viscount Hailsham between 1950 and 1963, at which point he disclaimed his hereditary peerage, was a British barrister and Conservativ ...

), London, 1973, .

References

* Copping, Robert, ''The Monday Club - Crisis and After'' May 1975, page 25, published by the Current Affairs Information Service, Ilford, Essex, (P/B). * ''Dod's Parliamentary Companion 1991'', 172nd edition, London. * Black, A & C, ''Who's Who'', London. (Various editions). * ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', Obituary, 29 December 1992 * ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', Obituary, 9 January 1993

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Massereene and Ferrard, John Whyte-Melville-Skeffington, 13th and 6th Viscount 1914 births 1992 deaths Massereene, 13th People educated at Eton College Black Watch officers Royal Navy officers British Army personnel of World War II Royal Navy officers of World War II Deputy Lieutenants of Antrim Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers