John Anthony Brabazon, 15th Earl of Meath (born 11 May 1941), previously known as Lord Ardee, is a British and Irish peer and a landowner in

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

. He was 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 1998 to 1999. Titles in the so-called "Irish Peerage" are not recognised by the Irish state, which is a Republic.

Early life

The son of Major Anthony Windham Normand Brabazon and Elizabeth Mary Bowlby, he was known as Lord Ardee from 1949, when his father became 14th

Earl of Meath Earl of Meath is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1627 and is held by the head of the Brabazon family. History The Brabazon family descends from Sir Edward Brabazon, who represented County Wicklow in the Irish House of Com ...

. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

and was

Page of Honour A Page of Honour is a ceremonial position in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It requires attendance on state occasions, but does not now involve the daily duties which were once attached to the office of page. The only ...

to Queen Elizabeth II between 1956 and 1958. In 1959, he was commissioned as a subaltern into the

Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

and served until 1963. Charles Mosley, ed., '' Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage'', vol. 2 (Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), p. 2656

Career

On 19 December 1998, he succeeded to his father's peerages, two 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 ...

, Earl of Meath (1627) and Baron Ardee (1616), and one 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 ...

, Baron Chaworth of Eaton Hall (1831), the last of these giving him a seat in the House of Lords. However, this came to an end when 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 ...

came into effect. In 1997, Meath was reported to be a writer and speaker on national competitiveness and social decay in the last two decades of the 19th century.

Personal life

On 12 May 1973, he married Xenia Goudime-Levkovitsch, daughter of Paul Goudime-Levkovitsch. They have three children: *Lady Corinna Lettice Brabazon (born 1974) *Anthony Jacques Brabazon, Lord Ardee (born 1977) *Lady Serena Alexandra Brabazon (born 1979) He lives at

Killruddery House Killruddery House (also spelled "Kilruddery") is a large country house on the southern outskirts of Bray in County Wicklow, Ireland, approximately south of Dublin.

, Bray,

, Ireland. In 2001, he sold a mountain sporting estate of 4,125 acres at

Rathdrum, County Wicklow Rathdrum () is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is situated high on the western side of the Avonmore River valley, which flows through the Vale of Clara. The village is in a townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of the s ...

, for £10 million, but continued to own some 800 acres in the same county, estimated to be far more valuable.Alan O'Day, Neil Fleming, ''Longman Handbook of Modern Irish History Since 1800'' (2014)
p. 617
/ref>

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meath, John Brabazon, 15th Earl of 1941 births Living people Grenadier Guards officers 20th-century Anglo-Irish people People educated at Harrow School John Anthony 15

Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...