Gerald Legge, 9th Earl of Dartmouth

Gerald Humphry Legge, 9th Earl of Dartmouth FCA (26 April 1924–14 December 1997), styled Viscount Lewisham between 1958 and 1962, was a British peer and businessman.

Background and education

Legge was the only son of Humphry Legge, 8th Earl of Dartmouth. He was educated at Eton College.

Career

On leaving Eton in 1942, he joined the Coldstream Guards as a Captain and served with them until the end of the Second World War, having been mentioned in despatches. He was subsequently a director of the farming company Rea Bros (based at Ashcombe House) from 1958 to 1989, chairman of the Royal Choral Society from 1970 to 1992 and chairman of the Anglo-Brazilian Society from 1975 to 1994. He succeeded his father in the earldom in 1962.

Family

Lord Dartmouth married Raine McCorquodale, the only child of romance novelist, Barbara Cartland and her first husband, Alexander McCorquodale, on 1 July 1948. They had four children:

• William Legge, 10th Earl of Dartmouth (b. 23 December 1949)
• Hon. Rupert Legge (b. 1 January 1951), married Mary Victoria Susan Ottley (M. Victoria S. Ottley),^[1] daughter of Lionel Edward Bruce Ottley,^[1] and had issue:
  • Edward Peregrine Legge (b. 1986)^[1]
  • Claudia Rose Legge (b. 1989)^[1]
• Lady Charlotte (b. 16 July 1963), married Don Alessandro Paternò Castello, 13th Duke of Carcaci (b. 1961),^[2][3] and had issue:
  • Donna Miranda Marie Patricia Paternò Castello (b. 7 June 1993)^[3]
  • Donna Chiara Diana Paternò Castello (b. 17 April 1995)^[3]
  • Don Tancredi Lorenzo Paternò Castello (b. 9 April 1997)^[3]
• Hon. Henry Legge (b. 28 December 1968), married Cressida Hogg^[1] (youngest daughter of Sir Christopher Anthony^[4] Hogg)^[5] on 21 December 1995, and had issue:
  • Violet Legge (b. 9 October 2000)^[6]
  • Olivia Daisy Legge (b. 11 July 2002, London)^[6]
  • Hebe Rosalind Legge (b. 24 Jul 2005)^[7]

Lord and Lady Dartmouth divorced in 1976. Lady Dartmouth later married the 8th Earl Spencer and became the stepmother of Lady Diana Spencer (later the Princess of Wales), while Lord Dartmouth married Gwendoline May four years later. Lord Dartmouth died on 14 December 1997 and was succeeded by his oldest son, William.

References

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Dartmouth