Francis Charles Needham, 3rd Earl of Kilmorey KP (2 August 1842 – 28 July 1915), styled Viscount Newry from 1851 to 1880, was an Anglo-Irish peer and Conservative Member of Parliament.
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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 Sir Charles Colville. He attended Christ Church college, Oxford, and in 1862 (aged nineteen), 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 Liddell's Irish residence was close to the Kilmorey seat, and this favour to a family friend might have made social connexions for her several daughters (including Alice). The ball and the resulting coldness between the Liddells and Carroll is mentioned in his diary as "Lord Newry's business". He was graduated in 1864.
In 1874 he served as High Sheriff of Down and was then elected to the House of Commons for 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 Irish Representative Peer, and sat in the House of Lords until his death in 1915. In 1890 he was made a Knight of the Order of St Patrick.
Lord Kilmorey married in 1881 Ellen Constance Baldock, daughter of Edward Holmes Baldock (MP for Shrewsbury). He died in July 1915, aged 72, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son Francis. Lady Kilmorey died in 1920.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William Kirk |
Member of Parliament for Newry 1871–1874 |
Succeeded by William Whitworth |
| Peerage of Ireland | ||
| Preceded by Francis Jack Needham |
Earl of Kilmorey 1880–1915 |
Succeeded by Francis Charles Adelbert Henry Needham |