Edward Henry Kenelm Digby, 12th Baron Digby, (24 July 1924 – 1 April 2018), also 6th Baron Digby in the

Peerage of Great Britain The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself repla ...

, was a British peer and

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

(

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

) officer.

Early life

He was the son of the Edward Digby, 11th Baron Digby. He studied at Eton and

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

, and trained at the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

Career

During

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 ...

, he served as an army officer with the

of the Rhine. As a cadet, he received an emergency commission as a second lieutenant on 15 February 1945, relinquished this commission on 22 May 1946 and received a regular commission in the

from the same date. Digby succeeded his father as Baron Digby in 1964. The

House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given royal assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

removed the right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords. He served as

Lord Lieutenant of Dorset The Lord Lieutenant is the monarch's representative in the English county of Dorset. The office of the Lord Lieutenant was created during the reign of Henry VIII (1509–1547), taking over the military duties of the Sheriff of Dorset and contro ...

from 1984 to 1999, and was appointed

Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

in the 1999 New Year Honours.

Personal life

In 1952 he married Dione Sherbrooke (b. 1934), daughter of Rear-Adm.

Robert Sherbrooke Rear admiral (Royal Navy), Rear Admiral Robert St Vincent Sherbrooke, (8 January 1901 – 13 June 1972) was a senior officer in the Royal Navy and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that c ...

and the former Rosemary Neville Buckley. They had two sons and a daughter: * Henry Noel Kenelm Digby, 13th Baron Digby (b. 1954), who married Susan E. Watts, eldest daughter of Peter Watts, in 1980; they divorced in 2001. * Hon. Rupert Simon Digby (b. 1956), who married Charlotte Fleury Hirst, second daughter of Robert Hirst, in 1986. * Hon. Zara Jane Digby (b. 1958), who married, as his second wife, James Edward Caulfeild Percy, second son of Henry Edward Percy (a grandson of Henry Percy, 7th Duke of Northumberland), in 1993.Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, U.S.A.:

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 ...

(Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 1141. He died on 1 April 2018 at the age of 93.Digby
/ref>

Coat of arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Digby, Edward Digby, 12th Baron 1924 births 2018 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II Coldstream Guards officers Deputy lieutenants of Dorset

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

English justices of the peace Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Lord-lieutenants of Dorset People educated at Eton College Edward 12 Edward 12 Digby