George St John Brodrick, 2nd Earl of Midleton MC (21 February 1888 – 2 November 1979) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

aristocrat The aristocracy (''from Greek'' ''ἀριστοκρατία'' ''aristokratía'', "rule of the best"; ''Latin: aristocratia'') is historically associated with a "hereditary" or a "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the ...

, landowner and soldier.

Early life

He was the eldest son of five children born to

St John Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton William St John Fremantle Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton, KP, PC, DL (14 December 185613 February 1942), styled as St John Brodrick until 1907 and as Viscount Midleton between 1907 and 1920, was a British Conservative and Irish Unionist Al ...

by his first wife, Lady Hilda Charteris. His siblings included Lady Muriel Brodrick (wife of

Dudley Marjoribanks, 3rd Baron Tweedmouth Lieutenant-Colonel Dudley Churchill Marjoribanks, 3rd Baron Tweedmouth, Order of St Michael and St George, CMG, Royal Victorian Order, MVO, Distinguished Service Order, DSO (2 March 1874 – 23 April 1935) was a British army officer and courtier ...

), Lady Sybil Brodrick who was

Maid of honour A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts. Tudors and Stuarts Traditi ...

to Queen Mary from 1911 to 1912 (wife of Sir Ronald William Graham), Lady Aileen Brodrick (wife of

Charles Francis Meade Charles Francis Meade (born 25 February 1881 – died 1975) was an English mountaineer and author. Early life Born in England, Meade was the only surviving child of the Hon. Sir Robert Henry Meade and Caroline Georgiana Grenfell. His mother di ...

), Lady Moyra Brodrick (wife of Gen. Sir

Charles Loyd General Sir Henry Charles Loyd, (12 February 1891 – 11 November 1973), nicknamed "Budget Loyd", was a senior British Army officer who fought in both the world wars, most notably during the Second World War as General Officer Commanding of the ...

of Geldeston Hall) After his mother's death in 1901, his father remarried, in 1903, to Madeleine Stanley, a daughter of The Baron St Helier. From his father's second marriage, his younger-half siblings were Maj. Hon. Francis Alan Brodrick (who married Margaret Letitia Lyell, only daughter of Maj Hon

Charles Henry Lyell Major Charles Henry Lyell (18 May 1875 – 18 October 1918) was a British politician and Liberal Member of Parliament who died in the First World War. Education and private life Lyell was born in 1875, the only son of Leonard Lyell, 1st Ba ...

) and Maj. Hon. Michael Victor Brodrick. Both of his brothers were

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

in Italy in September 1943. His paternal grandparents were

William Brodrick, 8th Viscount Midleton William Brodrick, 8th Viscount Midleton (6 January 1830 – 18 April 1907), was an Irish peer, landowner and Conservative politician in both Houses of Parliament, entering first the Commons for two years. Early life Midleton was born on 6 Janua ...

and the former Hon. Augusta Mary Fremantle (a daughter of

Thomas Fremantle, 1st Baron Cottesloe Thomas Francis Fremantle, 1st Baron Cottesloe, 2nd Baron Fremantle, (11 March 1798 – 3 December 1890), known as Sir Thomas Fremantle, Bt, between 1821 and 1874, was a British Tory politician. Early life Cottesloe was the eldest son of Ad ...

). His maternal grandparents were Francis Richard Charteris, 10th Earl of Wemyss and Lady Anne Anson (a daughter of

Thomas Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield Thomas William Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC (20 October 1795 – 18 March 1854), known as Viscount Anson from 1818–31, was a British Whig (British political faction), Whig politician from the An ...

). He was educated at

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

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

Career

From 1914 to 1918, he served in

World War A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

as '' aide-de-camp'' on the personal staff of

Sir Ian Hamilton General Sir Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton, (16 January 1853 – 12 October 1947) was a senior British Army officer who had an extensive British Imperial military career in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Hamilton was twice recommended for th ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

. In 1918, he was Staff Officer and was awarded

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

. 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 ''aide-de-camp'' to the

Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces was a senior officer in the British Army during the First World War, First and Second World Wars. The role of the appointment was firstly to oversee the military training, training and Military equipment, equipmen ...

. On 2 February 1920, his father was created Earl of Midleton and the Viscount Dunsford, of Dunsford in the

County of Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the west. The largest settlement is Woking. The cou ...

. Thereafter, and until his father's death in 1942, he was referred to by the courtesy title of

Viscount Dunsford Viscount Midleton, of Midleton in the County of Cork, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1717 for Alan Brodrick, 1st Baron Brodrick, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland and former Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. He was c ...

. He succeeded his father, who had served as

Secretary of State for War The secretary of state for war, commonly called the war secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The secretary of state for war headed the War Offic ...

and

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India secretary or the Indian secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of ...

, as the Earl of Midleton in 1942. In 1944, he sold the family seat, Peper Harow House (which had been built by

Sir William Chambers __NOTOC__ Sir William Chambers (23 February 1723 – 10 March 1796) was a Swedish-British architect. Among his best-known works are Somerset House, the Gold State Coach and the pagoda at Kew. Chambers was a founder member of the Royal Academy. ...

for

George Brodrick, 3rd Viscount Midleton George Brodrick, 3rd Viscount Midleton (3 October 1730 – 22 August 1765) was a British nobleman. Origins Brodrick was the first and only surviving son of Alan Brodrick, 2nd Viscount Midleton and Mary Capell, the second daughter of Algernon ...

in 1765), and the entire village, to property developers. Both are now owned by a trust.

Personal life

Lord Midleton was married three times to three actresses, but did not have any children from any of his marriages.

First marriage

His first marriage was to the stage actress Margaret "Peggy" Rush, a daughter of J. Rush, of

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. It is north of Norwich, northwest of North Walsham and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local ...

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 ...

, on 23 June 1917. They divorced in March 1925 before he succeeded to the Earldom.

Second marriage

On 28 July 1925, when he was known as Viscount Dunsford, he married Guinevere Jeanne (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Sinclair) Gould (1885–1978) at the American Presbyterian Church in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. Guinevere, an actress at the Gaiety Theatre, was the widow of George Jay Gould, and a daughter of Alexander Sinclair of Dublin. Her grandfather was Sir Edward Burrowes Sinclair, King's Professor of Midwifery in the School of Physic of the University of Dublin,Sir Edward Burrowes Sinclair Br Med J 1882; 1 :484 doi:10.1136/bmj.1.1109.484 and her cousin was Sir George McMunn,

High Commissioner of Palestine High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift t ...

. They were divorced in 1975.

Third marriage

In the 1950s he met film actress Irene Lilian Creese (1911–1993), better known by her stage name

Rene Ray Irene Lilian Brodrick, Countess of Midleton (née Creese, known as Rene Ray, 22 September 1911 – 28 August 1993) was a British stage and screen actress of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and also a novelist. Acting career Ray made her screen débu ...

, who was born in London and made her London acting debut at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy ...

in 1930. Lord Midleton and Ray, whose first husband was composer

George Posford George Posford, born Benjamin George Ashwell (23 March 1906 – 24 April 1976), was an English composer and conductor. Early life Benjamin George Ashwell was born in 1906 in Folkestone, Kent. He was educated at Downside School in Somerset an ...

, moved to

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

together in 1963. Immediately after his 1975 divorce from his second wife, Guinevere, he married for the third, and final, time to Ray on 24 April 1975.

Death

Lord Midleton died on 2 November 1979. Upon his death, the Earldom of Midleton and the Viscountcy of Dunsford became extinct, but the Viscountcy of Midleton passed to his second cousin, Trevor Lowther Brodrick. The Countess of Midleton died in 1993.

References

;Notes ;Sources

External links

George St John Brodrick, 2nd Earl of Midleton (1888-1979), Landowner
at the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

Peggy Rush, Actress; wife of George St John Brodrick, Viscount Midleton (later 2nd Earl of Midleton)
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Midleton, George Brodrick, 2nd Earl Of 1888 births 1979 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Recipients of the Military Cross