Edmund Robert Parker, 4th Earl of Morley JP (19 April 1877 – 10 October 1951), styled Viscount Boringdon from his birth until 1905, was a

British peer A Peerage is a form of crown distinction, with Peerages in the United Kingdom comprising both hereditary and lifetime titled appointments of various ranks, which form both a constituent part of the legislative process and the British hono ...

and

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

landowner.

Early life

Edmund Parker was the son of

Albert Parker, 3rd Earl of Morley Albert Edmund Parker, 3rd Earl of Morley PC, DL, JP (11 June 1843 – 26 February 1905), styled Viscount Boringdon until 1864, was a British peer and Liberal, later Liberal Unionist politician. Background and education Morley was the son o ...

, by his marriage to Margaret Holford. He was educated at

Wixenford Wixenford is an area of the civil parish of Wokingham Without in which Ludgrove School stands. It adjoins Wokingham and is in the English county of Berkshire. Name The area was developed by the former Wixenford School, which closed in 1934. That ...

, 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 ...

.Charles Mosley, ed., ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage'' (107th edition), vol. 2 (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd., 2003), p. 2777Vyvyen Brendon, ''Prep School Children: a Class Apart over Two Centuries'' (2009), p. 63 The young Viscount Boringdon was physically weak and had

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

. His career at Eton came to an end after only two years, following an attack of

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'', a Group A streptococcus (GAS). It most commonly affects children between five and 15 years of age. The signs and symptoms include a sore ...

, with his head master writing witheringly of him "Spelling ludicrous; even in words of one syllable the order of letters is often reversed". Fortunately, this was an age when difficulty in reading and writing was no obstacle to gaining entry to Cambridge, and Boringdon graduated

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in due course.

Career

Boringdon succeeded his father as

Earl of Morley Earl of Morley, of Morley in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1815 for John Parker, 2nd Baron Boringdon. At the same time he was created Viscount Boringdon, of North Molton in the County o ...

on 26 February 1905 and took his seat on the

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

benches in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. He was commissioned as a Second lieutenant in the

Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry The Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. First raised in 1794, it participated in the Second Boer War and the First World War before being amalgamated with the Royal North Devon Yeomanry in 1920 to form the Royal ...

, and promoted to

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 3 May 1902. He later joined the Territorial Forces Reserve, in which he rose to the rank of captain, and was a Justice of the Peace for Devon. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he served at the headquarters of

XI Corps 11 Corps, 11th Corps, Eleventh Corps, or XI Corps may refer to: * 11th Army Corps (France) * XI Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XI Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * ...

. The 4th Earl of Morley died unmarried on 10 October 1951, to be succeeded by his younger brother Montagu Brownlow Parker, who also died unmarried in 1963. He was succeeded by the brothers' nephew, Lieutenant-Colonel John St Aubyn Parker.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morley, Edmund Parker, 4th Earl Of 1877 births 1951 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge 4 People educated at Eton College People educated at Wixenford School English landowners Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry officers