George Ormsby-Gore, 3rd Baron Harlech

George Ralph Charles Ormsby-Gore, 3rd Baron Harlech, KCB TD DL (21 January 1855 – 8 May 1938), was a British soldier and Conservative Member of Parliament.

Background and education

Harlech was the son of William Richard Ormsby-Gore, 2nd Baron Harlech, and Lady Emily Charlotte Seymour, and was educated at Eton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.[1]

Military career

He served in the regular army as a lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards from 1875 to 1883. He later served in the Shropshire Yeomanry, becoming its commanding officer as lieutenant-colonel from 1902 to 1907, and was honorary colonel from 1908. He commanded the Welsh Guards at home during the First World War in 1915.[2] He was chairman of the Salop Territorial Army Association.

Political career

He was elected to the House of Commons for Oswestry in a by-election in May 1901,[3] a seat he held until 1904 when he succeeded his father as third Baron Harlech and entered the House of Lords.

Crown appointments

Lord Harlech was a Justice of the Peace for both County Leitrim and Shropshire and High Sheriff of Leitrim for 1885. He was appointed to be a Deputy Lieutenant of Merionethshire in 1896[4] and of Shropshire in 1897.[5]

Harlech also served as Lord Lieutenant of Leitrim from 1904 to 1922 and as Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire from 1927[6] to 1938,[7] as well as Constable of Harlech Castle from 1927 until his death. From 1926 to 1938 he served as Provincial Grand Master of Freemasonry in Shropshire and was a member of the Lodge of St. Oswald (No. 1124), which is now also known as the Harlech Lodge of Perfection.

Honours and arms

Harlech was a Knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem and was awarded a Territorial Decoration on 2 September 1910.[8] He was appointed to the Order of the Bath as a Companion (CB) in the 1923 Birthday Honours[9][10] and was promoted to be a Knight Commander (KCB) in the 1936 New Year Honours.[11][12][2]

Coat of arms of George Ormsby-Gore, 3rd Baron Harlech

Notes Coat of arms of the Ormsby-Gore family Coronet A coronet of a Baron Crest 1st: an Heraldic Tiger rampant Argent; 2nd: a Dexter Arm embowed in armour proper holding in the hand a Man's Leg also in armour couped at the thigh Escutcheon Quarterly: 1st and 4th, Gules a Fess between three Cross Crosslets fitchy Or (Gore); 2nd and 3rd, Gules a Bend between six Cross Crosslets Or (Ormsby) Supporters Dexter: an Heraldic Tiger Argent maned and tufted Sable ducally gorged Or; Sinister: a Lion Or Motto In Hoc Signo Vinces (Under this sign thou shalt conquer)

Personal life

Lord Harlech married Lady Margaret Ethel Gordon, daughter of Charles Gordon, 10th Marquess of Huntly, on 25 July 1881. They had one child:

• William George Arthur Ormsby-Gore, 4th Baron Harlech (born 11 April 1885, died 14 February 1964)

Harlech died in May 1938, aged 83, and was succeeded in the barony by his son. Lady Harlech died in 1950. The couple are buried in the parish churchyard of Selattyn near Oswestry. Their southern English home was Tetworth Hall at Ascot in Berkshire.

Notes

1. Mate, Charles H. (1907). Shropshire, Historical, Descriptive, Biographical. Part II - Biographical. Mate. p. 16.
2. Kelly's Handbook of Distinguished People 1938. Kelly. 1923. p. 877.
3. "No. 27319". The London Gazette. 31 May 1901. p. 3697.
4. "No. 26722". The London Gazette. 17 March 1896. p. 1747.
5. "No. 26859". The London Gazette. 4 June 1897. p. 3131.
6. "No. 33251". The London Gazette. 25 February 1927. p. 1252.
7. "No. 34526". The London Gazette. 28 June 1938. p. 4169.
8. "No. 28412". The London Gazette. 2 September 1910. p. 6336.
9. "No. 32830". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 1923. p. 3945.
10. "No. 13924". The Edinburgh Gazette. 5 June 1923. p. 799.
11. "No. 34238". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1935. p. 3.
12. "No. 15241". The Edinburgh Gazette. 7 January 1936. p. 15.

References

• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
• Lundy, Darryl. "FAQ". The Peerage.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by George Ormsby-Gore