Vice-Admiral The Right Honourable
The Earl Granville
KG GCVO CB DSO
2nd Governor of Northern Ireland
In office
7 September 1945 – 1 December 1952
MonarchsGeorge VI
Elizabeth II
Preceded byThe Duke of Abercorn
Succeeded byThe Lord Wakehurst
Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man
In office
1937–1945
MonarchGeorge VI
Preceded bySir Montagu Butler
Succeeded bySir Geoffrey Bromet
Personal details
Born
William Spencer Leveson-Gower

11 July 1880
Died25 June 1953 (aged 72)
NationalityBritish
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1916)​
Children2
Parent(s)Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville
Castila Rosalind Campbell
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch/service Royal Navy
Years of service1894–1935
RankVice Admiral
CommandsCoast of Scotland
Battles/warsWorld War I

William Spencer Leveson-Gower, 4th Earl Granville, KG, GCVO, CB, DSO (11 July 1880 – 25 June 1953), styled The Honourable William Leveson-Gower until 1939, was a British naval commander and governor from the Leveson-Gower family.

Background

Leveson-Gower was the younger son of Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, by his second wife Castilia Rosalind Campbell (daughter of Walter Frederick Campbell).[1]

Career

After Wixenford School, William Leveson-Gower joined the Royal Navy in 1894.[2] He was promoted to Sub Lieutenant in 1900, and lieutenant on 26 June 1902,[3] when he was re-appointed to the torpedo cruiser HMS Scout.[4] In August 1902 he was posted to HMS Hood, serving with the Mediterranean Fleet.[5]

Promotion to commander followed in 1913.[2] Leveson-Gower served in the First World War and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1919.[2]

Leveson-Gower was appointed Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, The Nore in 1924, aide-de-camp to the King in 1929 and Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland in 1931.[2] He was made a Companion of the Bath in 1930 and retired in 1935.[2]

Leveson-Gower became Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man in 1937.[6] He set up the War Consultative Committee in November 1939 to act as a 'war cabinet' during World War II.[7] The committee consisted of members of the House of Keys and the Legislative Council of the Isle of Man.[8]

In 1939 Leveson-Gower succeeded his elder brother in the earldom.[6] Granville was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in 1945 and became Governor of Northern Ireland in 1945, serving until 1952.[6] He was made a Knight Companion of the Garter that same year.[6]

Family

In 1916, Lord Granville married Lady Rose Bowes-Lyon, the second surviving daughter of the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and elder sister of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. They had two children, five grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren:

Lord Granville died in June 1953, aged 72. He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium. The Countess Granville died in 1967.[6]

Flag of the governor of Northern Ireland

References

  1. ^ Walford, Edward (1869). The County Families of the United Kingdom Or, Royal Manual of the Titled and Untitled Aristocracy of Great Britain and Ireland. R. Hardwicke. p. 425.
  2. ^ a b c d e "William Leveson-Gower, 4th Earl Granville Video". Ovguide.com. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  3. ^ "No. 27448". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 26 June 1902. p. 4198.
  4. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36810. London. 3 July 1902. p. 8.
  5. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36826. London. 22 July 1902. p. 11.
  6. ^ a b c d e "The Peerage". The Peerage. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  7. ^ Kermode, D. G. (2008). Ministerial Government in the Isle of Man: The First Twenty Years, 1986-2006. Douglas: Manx Heritage Foundation. p. 33.
  8. ^ Kermode, D. G (2001). Offshore Island Politics: The Constitutional and Political Development of the Isle of Man in the Twentieth Century. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. p. 136.

External links

Military offices Preceded byTheodore Hallett Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland 1931–1933 Succeeded byEverard Hardman-Jones Government offices Preceded bySir Montagu Butler Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man 1937–1945 Succeeded bySir Geoffrey Bromet Political offices Preceded byThe Duke of Abercorn Governor of Northern Ireland 1945–1952 Succeeded byThe Lord Wakehurst Peerage of the United Kingdom Preceded byGranville George Leveson-Gower Earl Granville 2nd creation1939–1953 Succeeded byGranville James Leveson-Gower
Lieutenant Governors of the Isle of Man
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