View source for Francis Needham, 3rd Earl of Kilmorey

{{Short description|Anglo-Irish peer and Conservative Member of Parliament}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix   = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name               = The Earl of Kilmorey
| honorific-suffix   =  {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KP|ADC}}
| image              = Francis Charles Needham, Vanity Fair, 1876-10-28.jpg
| image_size         =
| smallimage         = <!--If this is specified, "image" should not be.-->
| alt                =
| caption            = "Amateur theatricals". Caricature of the Earl of Kilmorey by [[Leslie Ward|Spy]] published in ''[[Vanity Fair (UK magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' in 1876.
| order              =
| office             =
| term_start         =
| term_end           =
| alongside          = <!--For two or more people serving in the same position from the same district.  (e.g. United States Senators.)-->
| birth_name      = Francis Charles Needham
| birth_date      = {{Birth date|df=yes|1842|8|2}}
| birth_place     = [[London]], England
| death_date      =  {{Death date and age|1915|7|28|1842|8|2|df=y}}
| death_place     = London, England
| resting_place   =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| citizenship     =
| nationality     =
| party           =  [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| spouse          = {{marriage|Ellen Constance Baldock|1881}}
| children        = [[Francis Needham, 4th Earl of Kilmorey]]
| parents         = [[Francis Needham, Viscount Newry]] <br /> Anne Amelia Colville
| relatives       =
| residence       =
| education       = [[Eton College]]
| alma_mater      = [[Christ Church, Oxford]]
| occupation      = Politician
| profession      =
<!--Military service-->
| nickname        =
| allegiance      =  {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| branch          = {{army|United Kingdom}}
| serviceyears    = 1865–96
| rank            = [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|Colonel]]
| unit            = [[Yeomanry|Yeomanry Force]]
| commands        =
| battles         =
}}
'''Francis Charles Needham, 3rd Earl of Kilmorey'''  {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KP|ADC}} (2 August 1842 – 28 July 1915), styled '''Viscount Newry''' from 1851 to 1880, was an [[Anglo-Irish]] [[Peerage|peer]] and [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] Member of Parliament.<ref name="times">{{cite news |title=Death of Lord Kilmorey |work=[[The Times]] |page=9 |date= 29 July 1915}}</ref>
==Background and education==
Kilmorey was the eldest son of [[Francis Needham, Viscount Newry]], son of [[Francis Needham, 2nd Earl of Kilmorey]]. His mother was Anne Amelia Colville, daughter of General [[Charles Colville|Sir Charles Colville]]. He attended [[Eton College]] and [[Christ Church, Oxford|Christ Church]], [[Oxford University|Oxford]].<ref name="times"/>
In 1862 (aged nineteen), Kilmorey proposed to give a ball; this was prohibited by the college authorities, chiefly by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (better known as [[Lewis Carroll]]). The wife of [[Henry Liddell]], the Dean of the college, had supported the ball; the Liddells' Irish residence was close to the Kilmorey seat of Mourne Park, and this favour to a family friend might have made social connections for her several daughters (including [[Alice Liddell|Alice]]). The ball and the resulting coldness between the Liddells and Carroll is mentioned in his diary as "Lord Newry's business".<ref>{{citation|last=Amor|first=Anne Clark|title=The Real Alice: Lewis Carroll's Dream Child|publisher=Stein and Day|place=New York|year=1982|page=77}}</ref> He graduated in 1864.
==Political career==
In 1874 he served as [[High Sheriff of Down]] and was then elected to the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] for [[Newry (UK Parliament constituency)|Newry]] in 1871, a seat he held until 1874. In 1880 he succeeded his grandfather as Earl of Kilmorey, but as this was an [[Irish peerage]] it did not entitle him to an automatic seat in the [[House of Lords]]. However, the following year Kilmorey was elected an [[List of Irish representative peers|Irish representative peer]], and sat in the House of Lords until his death in 1915. In 1890 he was made a [[Order of St Patrick|Knight of the Order of St Patrick]].<ref name="times"/>
==Military career==
As Viscount Newry, he was commissioned Cornet in the North Shropshire Yeomanry Cavalry in 1865,<ref name=Gladstone1>{{cite book|last=Gladstone|first=E.W.|title=The Shropshire Yeomanry 1795–1945, The Story of a Volunteer Cavalry Regiment|year=1953|publisher=The Whitethorn Press|page=97}}</ref> then promoted Captain in 1871,<ref name=Gladstone2>{{cite book|last=Gladstone|first=E.W.|title=The Shropshire Yeomanry 1795–1945|page=98}}</ref> before the Cavalry were merged into the unified [[Shropshire Yeomanry]] regiment.  He continued in the latter, being promoted Major in 1883<ref name=Gladstone3>{{cite book|last=Gladstone|first=E.W.|title=The Shropshire Yeomanry 1795–1945|page=109}}</ref> and becoming Lieutenant-Colonel in command of the regiment in 1889.<ref name=Gladstone4>{{cite book|last=Gladstone|first=E.W.|title=The Shropshire Yeomanry, 1795–1945|page=115}}</ref>
He retired in 1896 and was made Honorary Colonel of the regiment.<ref name=Gladstone5>{{cite book|last=Gladstone|first=E.W.|title=The Shropshire Yeomanry, 1795–1945|page=121}}</ref>
After the accession of King [[Edward VII]] in 1901, Lord Kilmorey was appointed [[Aide-de-camp]] (Supernumerary) to His Majesty ''for the service of His Yeomanry Force''. He also received the rank of [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|colonel]] in the [[Yeomanry|Yeomanry Force]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27295 |date=19 March 1901 |page=1942}}</ref>
==Personal life==
Lord Kilmorey married in 1881 Ellen Constance Baldock, daughter of [[Edward Holmes Baldock]] ([[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MP]] for Shrewsbury). She was a renowned beauty who caused a scandal by being bequeathed the 'Teck emeralds' among other jewels, from her lover, [[Prince Francis of Teck]], brother of [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Philandering Prince Frank set seal on wills|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1546900/Philandering-Prince-Frank-set-seal-on-wills.html|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=28 March 2007}}</ref> She also reputedly had a liaison with [[Edward VII]], a frequent visitor to the Kilmorey estates at Mourne Park, [[County Down]].
Lord Kilmorey died in July 1915, aged 72, of [[pleurisy]] and [[pneumonia]] at his [[Mayfair, London|Mayfair]] townhouse at 5 Aldford Street. He was buried at [[Kilkeel]], County Down.   He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son [[Francis Needham, 4th Earl of Kilmorey|Francis]].<ref name=compeerage>{{cite book|title=The Complete Peerage, Volume VII|year=1929|publisher=St Catherine's Press|page=264}}</ref> Lady Kilmorey died in 1920.
== References ==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*{{Hansard-contribs | viscount-newry-and-mourne | the Earl of Kilmorey }}
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{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
| title  = Member of Parliament for [[Newry (UK Parliament constituency)|Newry]]
| years  = [[1871 Newry by-election|1871]]–[[1874 United Kingdom general election|1874]]
| before = [[William Kirk (MP)|William Kirk]]
| after  = [[William Whitworth (politician)|William Whitworth]]
}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Edward Ward, 4th Viscount Bangor|The Viscount Bangor]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Irish representative peers|Representative peer for Ireland]]|years=1881–1915}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan|The Earl of Cavan]]}}
{{s-reg|ie}}
{{succession box
| title=[[Earl of Kilmorey]]
| years= 1880–1915
| before= [[Francis Needham, 2nd Earl of Kilmorey|Francis Jack Needham]]
| after=[[Francis Needham, 4th Earl of Kilmorey|Francis Charles Adelbert Henry Needham]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilmorey, Francis Needham, 3rd Earl of}}
[[Category:1842 births]]
[[Category:1915 deaths]]
[[Category:High sheriffs of Down]]
[[Category:Knights of St Patrick]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Newry (1801–1918)]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1868–1874]]
[[Category:UK MPs who inherited peerages|Kilmorey, E3]]
[[Category:Irish representative peers]]
[[Category:Irish Conservative Party MPs]]
[[Category:Shropshire Yeomanry officers]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford]]
[[Category:Earls of Kilmorey]]
[[Category:Volunteer Force officers]]
[[Category:Military personnel from London]]
[[Category:19th-century British Army personnel]]