Noel Lytton, 4th Earl of Lytton

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Noel Anthony Scawen Lytton, 4th Earl of Lytton (7 April 1900–18 January 1985) was a British military officer, Arabian horse fancier and writer. Through his mother, Judith Blunt-Lytton, he was a descendant of Lord Byron.

He was raised at Crabbet, just east of what is now the modern bustling Sussex town of Crawley, in the mansion built by his maternal grandparents on the grounds of Lady Anne's renowned Arabian horse farm. He was educated at Sandhurst, where he later taught economics in the 1930s. In the time between the World Wars, he served "as an administrator and keeper of the peace in the area around Lake Rudolph in Kenya." [1] When the British entered World War II, he was posted by the military to North Africa, but due to an automotive accident, was invalided out to desk duty, which his son describes as extremely frustrating for someone who was used to being athletic and active.

As part of government administration, he eventually went to Italy to work with Tito's partisans. There, he also met his wife, Clarissa Palmer, daughter of Brigadier General Cyril Eustace Palmer R.A. They married in 1946 and had five children: John Peter Michael, eventual 5th Earl of Lytton and 18th Baron Wentworth; the Hon. (Thomas) Roland Cyril Lawrence Lytton, Lady Caroline Mary Noel Lytton, Lady Lucy Mary Frances Lytton and Lady Sarah Teresa Mary Lytton. On moving to Exmoor to farm, he dropped the '-Milbanke' from the family name and kept merely the 'Lytton'. [2]

He went on to write several books [3], including a biography about his grandfather, Wilfred Blunt and a military autobiography The Desert and the Green. Due to his family's continued interest in the Arabian horse breed, he contributed from his private collection to the W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library.

Noel Lytton succeeded his father as the 4th Earl of Lytton in 1951, and his mother as 17th Baron Wentworth in 1957. Both titles passed to his son, John, upon his death in 1985.

A photographic portrait of the 4th Earl may be seen at the National Portrait Gallery.

Regnal titles
Preceded by Neville Bulwer-Lytton	Earl of Lytton 1951–1985	Succeeded by John Lytton
Preceded by Judith Blunt-Lytton	Baron Wentworth 1957–1985