Edward John Sidney Christian Welbore Ellis Agar, 5th Earl of Normanton (29 March 1910 – 28 January 1967) was a British and Irish peer, soldier, and landowner, a member of 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 ...

from 1933 until his death. From birth until 1933 he was known by the courtesy title of Viscount Somerton.

Early life

The only son of Sidney James Agar, 4th Earl of Normanton, and his wife Lady Amy Frederica Alice Byng, he was educated at

West Downs School West Downs School, Romsey Road, Winchester, Hampshire, was an English independent preparatory school, which was established in 1897 and closed in 1988. History Founding The school was founded by Lionel Helbert (1870–1919), with help from hi ...

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

, 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 ...

, graduating BA.

Career

As Viscount Somerton, Normanton was commissioned into the

Royal Horse Guards The Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, also known as the Blues, or abbreviated as RHG, was one of the cavalry regiments of the British Army and part of the Household Cavalry. In 1969, it was amalgamated with the 1st The Royal Dragoons to form the ...

. On 25 November 1933, he succeeded his father as Earl of Normanton, Viscount Somerton, and Baron Somerton, all 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 ...

, and as Baron Somerton of Somerley in the

peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

. The last of these gave him a seat in the

. From his father, he also inherited Somerley House in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

and an estate of some 7,000 acres, and an art collection which included the Somerley '' Venus and Adonis'' by

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

. On 13 November 1935, Normanton resigned his commission and transferred as a lieutenant from the active list to the

Regular Army Reserve of Officers The Regular Reserve is the component of the military reserve of the British Armed Forces whose members have formerly served in the " Regular" (full-time professional) forces. Other components of the Reserve are the Volunteer Reserves and the Spons ...

. During the Second World War, he returned to the army and rose to the rank of Captain. He died in 1967 aged only 56, without having planned for the

inheritance tax International tax law distinguishes between an estate tax and an inheritance tax. An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and pro ...

on his estate, and as a result, his son owed 88 per cent of the value of the property for that.

Private life

On 5 July 1937, Normanton married firstly Barbara Mary Prior-Palmer, a daughter of Sir Frederick William Francis George Frankland, 10th Baronet, and Mary Cecil Curzon, 17th Baroness Zouche. She was previously married to Otho Prior-Palmer, who in 1936 had successfully sued her for

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

on the grounds of her adultery with Normanton."Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division", ''

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 ...

'', 22 December 1936 They were divorced in 1943. On 30 October 1944, Normanton married secondly Lady Fiona Pratt, a daughter of

John Pratt, 4th Marquess Camden John Charles Pratt, 4th Marquess Camden (9 February 1872 – 15 December 1943), briefly styled Earl of Brecknock in 1872, was a British peer. Background and education Camden was born at Eaton Square, London, the third but only surviving son of ...

, and Lady Joan Marion Nevill. She had previously been married to Sir John Gerard Henry Fleetwood Fuller, 2nd Baronet''

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

'', volume 2 (2003), p. 2923 and had two young sons, John Fuller (1936–1998) and Anthony Fuller (born 1940). With his second wife, Normanton had two sons: * Shaun James Christian Welbore Ellis Agar, 6th Earl of Normanton (1945–2019) *Mark Sidney Andrew Agar (born 1948)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Normanton, Edward John Sidney Christian Welbore Ellis Agar, 5th Earl of 1910 births 1967 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge People educated at Eton College People educated at West Downs School Royal Horse Guards officers Earls of Normanton