Robert Keith Rous, 6th Earl of Stradbroke (born 25 March 1937) is a British peer who has lived much of his life in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, where he became a sheep farmer of some 15,000 acres in southern
Victoria. A member of the
House of Lords from July 1983 to November 1999, he rarely attended it.
Early life
The son of William Keith Rous, younger brother of the fourth earl, and his first wife Pamela Catherine Mabell Kay-Shuttleworth, a granddaughter of
Ughtred Kay-Shuttleworth, 1st Baron Shuttleworth, and a sister of the 4th Baron, he was educated at
Harrow School
(The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God)
, established = (Royal Charter)
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school
, religion = Church of E ...
.
[
]
Life in Australia
About 1957, Rous emigrated to Australia, to escape from his family and from a feud between his father and his uncle. He made a fortune in land speculation.[ His reason for settling in Victoria may have been that his grandfather,
George Rous, 3rd Earl of Stradbroke, had been Governor of the state.][ His uncle, ]John Rous, 4th Earl of Stradbroke
John Anthony Alexander Rous, 4th Earl of Stradbroke, KStJ (1 April 1903 – 14 July 1983), was a British nobleman, the son of George Rous, 3rd Earl of Stradbroke. He was styled Viscount Dunwich from birth until acceding to the earldom in 1947. ...
, was Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk from 1948 to 1978.[
]
Peerage
On 14 July 1983, his father succeeded an older brother, the 4th Earl, to the peerages, and the young Rous was formally styled as Viscount Dunwich; but four days later his father also died, and he became Earl of Stradbroke himself.['' Burke's Peerage'', volume 3 (Burke's, 2003), p. 3764] As well as succeeding to the peerages, a baronetcy, and a seat in the House of Lords, he also inherited his uncle's Henham Park
Henham Park is an historic estate in the parish of Wangford with Henham, situated north of the village of Blythburgh in the English county of Suffolk. The park is bordered to the east by the A12 road and to the west by the A145, the two roads ...
estate of 3,500 acres in Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
, with some fifty houses and cottages, although his uncle had demolished the former family seat, Henham Hall, in 1953. However, this inheritance led to a long legal battle in England.[Simon Hollington]
Grand designs of the Earl of Fair Dinkum: When Keith from Australia claimed his inheritance, something stirred in the parish of Wangford
'' The Independent'', 3 December 1992
The son-in-law of the fourth earl called Stradbroke "a malicious liar" after he had called the Henham estate "very down-at-heel, after decades of mismanagement". This led to a libel
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
action in which Stradbroke was awarded £40,000 in damages. During the trial, the new earl from Australia featured in the tabloid press, wearing a bush hat and lacing his comments with such expressions as "fair dinkum". But his plans for a new country house
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
were turned down, so Stradbroke set up home in a tent, and then later in a two-bedroom cottage. For nine years, he divided his life between Australia and England.[
By 2000, Stradbroke was back in Australia, living at Mount Fyans Station, Dundonnell, near Mortlake, Victoria, Australia,][ a sheep station of almost 15,000 acres, with an eight-bedroom homestead built in the 1880s.][Chinese to Buy the Earl of Stradbroke's Australian Farmland]
''Find Properties Overseas'', 10 October 2016, accessed 5 February 2023
In 2015, Stradbroke announced that he was selling his Mount Fyans property. A newspaper report commented that the property was famous, its owner "cheekily infamous".[Everard Himmelreich]
"Fertile Earl, Keith Rous, seeks greener pastures"
''The Standard'' (Australia), 30 March 2015, accessed 5 February 2023 The sale price was later reported as some $34 million.[
He continues to own the Henham Park estate in Suffolk, and has developed it.][
]
Personal life
On 3 September 1960, Stradbroke married firstly Dawn Antoinette Beverley, a daughter of Thomas Edward Beverley. They were divorced in 1976, having had seven children:[
*Robert Keith Rous, Viscount Dunwich (born 1961)
*Lady Ingrid Arnel Rous (1963)
*Lady Sophia Rayner Rous (1964)
*Lady Heidi Simone Rous (1966)
*Lady Pamela Keri Rous (1968)
*Lady Brigitte Aylena Rous (1970)
*Wesley Alexander Rous (1972)
In 1977, he married secondly Roseanna Mary Blanche Reitman, a daughter of Francis Reitman and Susan Diana Mary Vernon, and they had eight children:][
*Hektor Fraser Rous (1978)
*Lady Zea Katherina Rous (1979)
*Maximilian Otho Rous (1981)
*Henham Mowbray Rous (1983)
*Winston Walberswick Rous (1986)
*Lady Minsmere Mathilda Rous (1988)
*Yoxford Ulysses Uluru Rous (1989)
*Ramsar Fyans Rous (1992)
Stradbroke had a younger brother who took up a career in the British Army and became Lieutenant General Sir William Rous, regimental colonel of the Coldstream Guards.][
]
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stradbroke, Keith Rous, 6th Earl of
1937 births
Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
People educated at Harrow School
Living people
Stradbroke