Roger Lumley, 11th Earl of Scarbrough

The Earl of Scarbrough painted by Herbert James Gunn in 1952.

(Lawrence) Roger Lumley, 11th Earl of Scarbrough, KG GCSI GCIE GCVO TD PC DL (27 July 1896 – 29 June 1969) was a British Conservative statesman and former British Army general.

Background

Lumley was the son of Brigadier General Osbert Lumley, youngest child and son of the 9th Earl. He attended Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford.

Career

Lumley followed his father into the military and saw service in World War I with the 11th Hussars in France, 1916–1918. He continued to be attached to the Yorkshire Dragoons.

Lumley sat in the House of Commons as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hull East 1922–29, then York 1931–37. In 1923 he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to William Ormsby-Gore, from 1924–26 to Sir Austen Chamberlain and subsequently to Anthony Eden. In 1937, he was appointed Governor of Bombay, serving until 1943. Upon his return from India, Lumley served as acting Major-General in World War II. Following the War, he continued his connections with the Army, as an honorary colonel. He succeeded to the Earldom of Scarbrough in 1945 following the death of his uncle. He served as Lord Chamberlain from 1952 to 1963 and chancellor of the University of Durham from 1958 to 1969. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1948.

Outside politics the Earl had a keen interest in Asian and African studies. He presided over the Interdepartmental Commission of Enquiry on Oriental, Slavonic, East European and African Studies set up after the Second World War to consider how Britain might maintain and increase the links it had built up during the war in the geographical areas under the Commission's consideration. The Commission's report, presented in 1947, argued for considerable strengthening of university departments' capacity to carry out research and training related to these areas, and for significant funds to be made available to this end. However, after five years of strong growth following the presentation of the Scarbrough report, in 1952 much of the funding was withdrawn.^[1]

Lumley was a freemason and, from 1951 to 1967 served as the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England.

Family

Lumley married Katherine Isobel McEwen, sister of Sir John McEwen, 1st Baronet on 12 July 1922 at St Margaret's, Westminster. They had five children:

• Lady Mary Constance Lumley (20 Apr 1923 – 23 Jan 1998); married Lt Col Roger Fleetwood-Hesketh
• Lady Elizabeth Lumley (b. 22 Jul 1925); married Christopher Beckett, 4th Baron Grimthorpe, had 2 sons and 1 daughter. Their older son is Edward Beckett, 5th Baron Grimthorpe.
• Lady Anne Katharine Gabrielle Lumley (16 Nov 1928 – 2006); married Matthew White Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley, had 4 children, one of whom is zoologist and writer Matt Ridley.
• Richard Aldred Lumley, 12th Earl of Scarbrough (5 Dec 1932 – 23 Mar 2004); married Lady Elizabeth Anne Ramsay (daughter of Simon Ramsay, 16th Earl of Dalhousie), had 4 children
• Lady Jane Lily Serena Lumley (b. 5 Oct 1935); married Hugh Wiley, has issue.

Memorial to Lawrence Roger Lumley, 11th Earl of Scarborough in York Minster

References

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Scarbrough
• "Obituary – Lawrence Roger Lumley". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (courtesy of JSTOR).