William John Lydston Poulett, 7th Earl Poulett (11 September 1883 – 11 July 1918) was an English 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 ...

officer.

Biography

Educated at

Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...

and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

, he was the son of William Poulett, 6th Earl Poulett, by his third wife, Rosa, a daughter of Alfred Hugh de Melville."Poulett, 7th Earl"
in ''Who Was Who'', online edition by Oxford University Press, 2014, accessed 3 August 2016 He was known by the

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but is rather used by custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some context ...

of Viscount Hinton until on the death of his father in 1899 when he inherited the earldom of Poulett and an estate at

Hinton St George Hinton St George is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated outside Crewkerne, south west of Yeovil. The village has a population of 442. It has a wide main street lined with hamstone cottages, some thatched. The village has a ...

, Somerset, centering on

Hinton House Hinton House is a large country house near Hinton St George in Somerset, England. History The house started life as a medieval hall house and was rebuilt around 1500 by Sir Amias Paulet. Alterations were made for successive Lords Poulett by ...

. However, the inheritance of the earldom was disputed by William Turnour Thomas Poulett, a son of his father's first wife, whom the 6th Earl believed had been fathered by another man. On 27 July 1903, on a report from the Committee of Privileges, 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 ...

determined the dispute in favour of William John Lydston Poulett, as the undisputed son of the 6th Earl. In 1908 Lord Poulett married Sylvia Lilian Storey, the daughter of Fred Storey, an actor, dancer, and scene-painter. The bride was herself an actress and Gaiety girl. They had one son George Amias FitzWarrine Poullet, Viscount Hinton (1909–1973), and one daughter, Lady Bridget Elizabeth Felicia Henrietta Augusta Poulett (1912–1978). Poulett was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers () was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales's Division, that was founded in 1689, shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and becam ...

and transferred to the

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. Although the cavalry link rem ...

. He died on 11 July 1918 of

Spanish influenza The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...

and was succeeded by his eight-year-old son, George Poulett, Viscount Hinton. After his death, his widow became engaged to Major Percy Howard Hansen, but the marriage never took place, which was thought to be because of the financial consequences for the Countess. However, she had a daughter with Hansen, Phoebe Amie Sybil Poulett (born 1922), who died unmarried in 1948."Poulett, Phoebe A S" in Register of Deaths for the Kensington registration district, volume 5c, p. 917

Notes

External links

Lady Bridgett Poulett (1912-1975)
at National Gallery {{DEFAULTSORT:Poulett, William John Lydston 1883 births 1918 deaths Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in England Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge People educated at Cheltenham College Royal Horse Artillery officers Royal Welch Fusiliers officers 7 William, 7th Earl British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I 20th-century English nobility