Arthur Patrick Hastings Forbes, 9th Earl of Granard (10 April 1915 – 19 November 1992), was a British peer.

Early life

Born on 10 April 1915, he was the son of

Bernard Forbes, 8th Earl of Granard Bernard Arthur William Patrick Hastings Forbes, 8th Earl of Granard, (17 September 1874 – 10 September 1948), styled Viscount Forbes from 1874 to 1889, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician. Background Granar ...

(1874–1948), and Beatrice (née Mills) Forbes, Countess of Granard (1883–1972), an American socialite who was the daughter of Ogden Mills and a descendant of the Livingston and the Schuyler families from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He had one younger brother, the Hon. John Forbes, and two sisters, Eileen, Lady Bute, of Scotland, and Moira, Countess Rossi, of Switzerland. He was educated at Eton and

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

. He received a BA from

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1937.

Career

Early in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, on 31 October 1939, he was appointed

Air Attaché An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, being given the rank of

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

. He used his own aircraft, a Percival Q6, to fly, often secretly, British subjects and other diplomats who had escaped from Poland during the German invasion from Cernăuți in Northern Romania (now

Chernivtsi Chernivtsi (, ; , ;, , see also #Names, other names) is a city in southwestern Ukraine on the upper course of the Prut River. Formerly the capital of the historic region of Bukovina, which is now divided between Romania and Ukraine, Chernivt ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

and on to Greece or Turkey. On 30 October 1940, he was appointed deputy Air Attaché to Greece. Later in the war, he acted as an adviser to the Minister of State for the Middle East. After the war, he was appointed Air Attaché to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. His decorations included the British Air Force Cross, the French

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

and the American

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

. From 1972 to 1990, he was a director of

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American Petroleum, oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its Gasoline, fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an Independ ...

. Lord Granard also served as a director for other companies, including the Nabisco Group Ltd. and Martini & Rossi.

Personal life

Lord Granard was married to Marie-Madeleine Eugenie, Princess of Faucigny Lucinge, (d. 1990). She was the daughter of Jean Maurel and the first wife of Prince Humbert de Faucigny-Lucinge (a brother of Prince de Cystria, both descendants of

Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis VI ...

). Together, Marie and Lord Granard lived at Castleforbes demesne, the largest estate in

County Longford County Longford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford. Longford County Council is the Local government in the Republic ...

, and were the parents of two children: * Lady Moira Forbes (b. 1951), who married Prince Charles-Antoine Lamoral de Ligne-La Trémoïlle, son of Prince Jean Charles Lamoral of Ligne-La Trémoïlle, in February 1971. They divorced in 1975 and she married, secondly, José de Guerrico Casado-Sastre in 1978. * Lady Georgina Forbes (b. 1952), an owner of international showjumping horses. The Earl of Granard died at his home in

Morges Morges (; , Plurale tantum, plural, probably Ablative (Latin), ablative, else dative; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud and the seat of the Morges District, distri ...

, Switzerland, in 1992 at age 77. As he had no sons, his nephew

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

inherited the title and continues to be the holder.

Coat of arms

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Granard, Arthur Forbes, 9th Earl of 1915 births 1992 deaths People educated at Eton College British people of American descent British people of Dutch descent British recipients of the Legion of Honour Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Livingston family Schuyler family Earls of Granard