Edmund Maurice Burke Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy (15 May 1885 – 8 July 1955) was a British Conservative Party politician who held a title in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

Early life

Roche was born on 15 May 1885 in Chelsea, London.Williamson, D ''The Ancestry of Lady Diana Spencer'' In: ''Genealogist's Magazine'', 1981; vol. 20 (no. 6) p. 192–199 and vol. 20 (no. 8) p. 281–282 He was the elder of twin sons of the Hon. James Roche (later 3rd

Baron Fermoy Baron Fermoy is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. The title was created by Queen Victoria by letters patent of 10 September 1856 for Edmond Roche. Previous letters patent had been issued on 14 May 1855 which purported to create this barony fo ...

) and

Frances Ellen Work Frances Ellen Work (October 27 or 28, 1857 – January 26, 1947) was an American heiress and socialite. Early life Frances was born in New York City on October 27 or 28, 1857. She was a daughter of Franklin H. Work, a well-known stockbroker an ...

. The Roches separated in December 1886, later divorcing in 1891, with James Roche agreeing to relinquish custody of his sons to his wife's father, multi-millionaire stockbroker Frank Work, in exchange for Work paying Roche's debts. From his parents' marriage, he had an elder sister,

Cynthia Roche Cynthia Burke Cary (née Roche, previously Burden; 10 April 1884 – 18 December 1966) was a British-American socialite and art collector from Newport, Rhode Island. Life and work She was born on 10 April 1884 in London to James Roche, 3rd Bar ...

(who married Arthur Scott Burden and, after his death, Guy Fairfax Cary). He was educated at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and graduated in 1909. As a condition of their

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

, Work stipulated that Maurice and his twin brother Francis "shall assume and retain the name 'Work' in place of the name 'Roche'", and must not travel to Europe or marry a European; Maurice ignored the edicts. Roche returned to England on succeeding to his father's

Irish peerage The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

in 1920. He was a naturalized American citizen, but resumed British nationality following his succession to the title.

Career

He rented Park House at

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places Australia * Sandringham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Sandringham, Queensland, a rural locality * Sandringham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station * ...

, Norfolk, from the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

. At the 1924 general election, he contested and won the local parliamentary constituency,

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

, holding the seat until he stood down at the 1935 general election.''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 9 July 1955; p. 8 col. D He was also elected the town's

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

in 1931.

Later life

Lord Fermoy joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

in 1939 at the start of

World War II 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 ...

, but when the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for King's Lynn was killed on active service in 1943, he resigned his commission and stood for re-election. He retired from politics when

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

was dissolved for the 1945 general election. Lord Fermoy was a member of the shooting party organized by

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

on 5 February 1952, on the grounds of

, which was the King's last full day alive.

Personal life

On 17 September 1931, Lord Fermoy married Ruth Sylvia Gill at St. Devenick's,

Bieldside Bieldside is a suburb to the west of Aberdeen City Centre, Scotland. Together with the neighbouring suburb of Cults, Aberdeenshire, Cults, it is the wealthiest area in Scotland. It has one pub/restaurant, The Bieldside, a foodstore, a hairdresse ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

with a reception held at Dalhebity. Ruth was the youngest daughter of Ruth ( Littlejohn) Gill and Col.

William Smith Gill Ruth Sylvia Roche, Baroness Fermoy, (''née'' Gill; 2 October 1908 – 6 July 1993) was a friend and confidante of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and the maternal grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales. She was one of the Queen Mother's lad ...

Before his death, they were the parents of three children: * The Hon. Mary Cynthia Roche (19 August 1934 – 3 March 2023), who married the Hon.

Anthony Berry Sir Anthony George Berry (12 February 1925 – 12 October 1984) was a British Conservative politician. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Enfield Southgate and a whip in Margaret Thatcher's government. Berry served as an MP for twent ...

, a son of

Gomer Berry, 1st Viscount Kemsley James Gomer Berry, 1st Viscount Kemsley, GBE (7 May 1883 – 6 February 1968) was a Welsh colliery owner and newspaper publisher. Background Berry was born the son of John Mathias and Mary Ann (''née'' Rowe) Berry, of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales ...

. They divorced in 1966 and she married Denis Geoghegan. They divorced in 1980 and she married Michael Gunningham. They divorced in 1989. Mary Roche later trained as a teacher. * The Hon.

Frances Ruth Roche Frances Ruth Shand Kydd (previously Spencer, ''née'' Roche; 20 January 1936 – 3 June 2004) was the mother of Diana, Princess of Wales. She was the maternal grandmother of William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, respectively ...

(20 January 1936 – 3 June 2004), who married

John Spencer, Viscount Althorp John Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer, (30 May 1782 – 1 October 1845), styled Viscount Althorp from 1783 to 1834, was a British statesman and abolitionist. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne from 1830 to ...

. One of their daughters was

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

. Frances divorced Spencer in 1969 and she later married

Peter Shand Kydd Peter Shand Kydd (23 April 1925 – 23 March 2006) was the stepfather of Diana, Princess of Wales, and an heir to the wallpaper fortune built by his father Norman Shand Kydd (1895–1962). His mother was Frances Madalein Foy (1900–1983), ...

. * The Hon. Edmund James Burke Roche (20 March 1939 – 19 August 1984), later the 5th Baron Fermoy, who married Lavinia Pitman. Lord Fermoy collapsed in a shop at

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, in June 1955 and died three weeks later, on July 8. He was succeeded by his only son,

Edmund Edmund is a masculine given name in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and nobles *Ed ...

. Lord Fermoy is buried in the churchyard of

St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham is a Church of England parish church, in Norfolk, England. It is close to Sandringham House and members of the British royal family regularly attend services when in residence at Sandringham, notably at Chris ...

Legacy

His life was the subject of the book ''Lilac Days'', by Gavan Naden and Maxine Riddington (

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

()), where it was claimed he had a 30-year affair with an American, Edith Travis.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fermoy, Maurice Roche, 4th Baron 1885 births 1955 deaths Military personnel from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea English twins Harvard University alumni Barons Fermoy

Maurice Maurice may refer to: *Maurice (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name Places * or Mauritius, an island country in the Indian Ocean *Maurice, Iowa, a city *Maurice, Louisiana, a village *Maurice River, a trib ...

English people of American descent English people of Irish descent Royal Air Force officers

Roche F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche (), is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational corporation, multinational holding healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, ...

UK MPs who inherited peerages Royal Air Force personnel of World War II People from Chelsea, London Politicians from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Mayors of King's Lynn English emigrants to the United States Naturalized citizens of the United States