Francis Greville, 5th Earl of Warwick

"He sits for Colchester"
Lord Brooke as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, May 1890

Francis Greville monument in St Mary's Church, Little Easton

Francis Richard Charles Guy Greville, 5th Earl of Warwick (9 February 1853 – 15 January 1924), styled Lord Brooke until 1893, was a British Conservative politician.

Warwick was the son of George Greville, 4th Earl of Warwick, and his wife Lady Anne, daughter of Francis Wemyss-Charteris, 9th Earl of Wemyss, and was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. He entered Parliament for Somerset East in an 1879 by-election, a seat he held until 1885, and later represented Colchester from 1888 to 1892. The following year Warwick succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords.

In August 1901 he was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Essex,^[1] serving as such until 1919. In November 1901 he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the new Essex Imperial Yeomanry Regiment,^[2] and in late 1901 he was elected Mayor of Warwick for the following year.^[3]

He was a senior Freemason under the United Grand Lodge of England, and rose to the high office of Deputy Grand Master under the Grand Mastership of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII.

Lord Warwick married Frances Evelyn Maynard (10 December 1861 – 26 July 1938), daughter of the Hon. Charles Henry Maynard, in 1881. They had five children:

• Leopold Guy Francis Maynard Greville, 6th Earl of Warwick b. 10 Sep 1882, d. 31 Jan 1928
• Lady Marjorie Blanche Eva Greville b. 25 Oct 1884, d. 25 Jul 1964 m. Charles Duncombe, 2nd Earl of Feversham
• Hon. Charles Algernon Cromartie Greville b. 22 Nov 1885, d. 28 Mar 1887
• Hon. Maynard Greville b. 21 Mar 1898, d. 21 Feb 1960
• Lady Mercy Greville b. 3 Apr 1904.^[4]

The youngest two children were reputedly fathered by one of the countess' lovers, millionaire bachelor Joseph Laycock.^[5]

Francis Greville, 5th Earl of Warwick died in January 1924, aged 70, and is buried in the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick. He was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son Leopold. The Countess of Warwick died in July 1938, aged 76.

Notes

1. The London Gazette: no. 27340. p. 5125. 2 August 1901.
2. The London Gazette: no. 27377. p. 7398. 15 November 1901.
3. "Election of Mayors". The Times (36609). London. 11 November 1901. p. 7.
4. "Equestrian portrait of Lady Mercy Marter".
5. Holland, Evangeline. "Society and Scandal in Edwardian England". Edwardian Promenade.

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 the Earl of Warwick