George Boscawen, 9th Viscount Falmouth

George Hugh Boscawen, 9th Viscount Falmouth, DL (born 31 October 1919) is a British peer and landowner. His subsidiary titles include Baron Le Despencer (created 1264) and Baron Boscawen-Rose. A former officer in the Coldstream Guards, he was Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall from 1977 to 1994.

The Viscount Falmouth
Born	George Hugh Boscawen 31 October 1919
Nationality	British
Education	Eton College
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Price Browne ​ ​ (m. 1953; died 2007)​
Parent(s)	Evelyn Hugh John Boscawen and Mary Margaret Desiree Meynell

Life

Boscawen was the second son of Evelyn Hugh John Boscawen, 8th Viscount Falmouth, by his marriage to Mary Margaret Desiree, daughter of Hon. Frederick George Lindley Meynell (né Wood; in 1905 he assumed part of the married name of his sister, Emily Meynell Ingram, on inheriting estates from her),[1] High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1910, son of the politician Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax. Mary's mother, Lady Mary Susan Felice, was daughter of the art collector and historian Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford.[2]

Like his younger brother Robert, he was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, and from 1939 to 1946 served in the Coldstream Guards, rising to the rank of Captain. During the Second World War he saw active service in Italy.[3] On 21 May 1940 Boscawen's elder brother, Hon Evelyn Frederick Vere Boscawen, also a Coldstream Guards officer, was killed in action, leaving him as heir to the family titles and estates.[4]

In 1962, he succeeded as Viscount Falmouth on the death of his father. In 1968 he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Cornwall, then in 1977 became the county's Lord Lieutenant, retiring only in 1994 on reaching the age of seventy-five.[3]

In 1982, as chairman of the governing body of Truro Cathedral School, Falmouth took the decision to close the school, because of "deteriorating finances". In a letter to parents he stated that this decision had been taken "with very great reluctance, after exploring all possible alternatives".[5]

He celebrated his 100th Birthday on 31 October 2019.

Family

Boscawen married Elizabeth Price Browne (1925 – 28 July 2007) who was a Deputy Lieutenant for Cornwall and an Officer of the Order of the British Empire; on 9 May 1953. They have four sons:

• Hon. Evelyn Arthur Hugh Boscawen (13 May 1955) he married Lucia Vivian-Neal on 23 July 1977 and they were divorced in 1995. They have two children and two grandsons. He remarried Katherine Helen Maley on 7 October 1995. They have three children.
• Hon. Nicholas John Boscawen (14 January 1957) he married Virginia Mary Rose Beare, daughter of Robin Beare, in 1985. They have two daughters.
• Hon. Charles Richard Boscawen (10 October 1958) he married Frances Diana Rous, daughter of Major Hon. George Nathaniel Rous, in 1985. They have three children.
• Hon. Vere George Boscawen (18 September 1964) he married Catharine Halliday on 11 May 1991. They have three children.

His heir is his oldest son, the Hon Evelyn George Boscawen. All three generations, grandfather, father and son, are Etonians and live on and manage the Tregothnan estate.[6]

Notes

1. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/df5510e0-f906-4151-a0fa-67a8cb536dda
2. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th ed., Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, vol. 1, p. 955, vol. 2, p. 1728
3. 'Falmouth, 9th Viscount (born 31 Oct. 1919), Lord-Lieutenant of Cornwall, 1977–94' in Who's Who 2003 (London: A. & C. Black, 2003), p. 692
4. Charles Mosley, ed., Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1 (2003), p. 1387
5. The Times, issue 61211 dated Monday, 19 April 1982, p. 10
6. "The Elite". The Guardian. 11 April 1999. Retrieved 7 July 2019.