John Crichton, 5th Earl Erne

John Henry George Crichton, 5th Earl Erne (22 November 1907 – 23 May 1940), briefly styled Viscount Crichton in 1914, was an Anglo-Irish peer, soldier and politician.

Background

Erne was the only son of Henry William Crichton, Viscount Crichton, eldest son of John Crichton, 4th Earl Erne. His mother was Lady Mary Cavendish Grosvenor, daughter of Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster. On 31 October 1914, his father, a Major (Brevet Lt. Colonel) in the Royal Horse Guards, was killed in action, aged 42, during the Great War. (He was awarded a DSO and a MVO, he is buried at Zantvoorde British Cemetery in Flanders.) Only a month later, aged seven, Erne succeeded his grandfather as the fifth Earl Erne.

Political and military career

Erne trained for a military career at the Royal Military College and was commissioned into the Royal Horse Guards in 1927. He was promoted Lieutenant in 1930 and resigned his commission in 1934. Becoming an active member of the House of Lords, he served as a Lord-in-waiting, or government whip in the House of Lords, from 1936 to 1939 in the National Government under Stanley Baldwin and later under Neville Chamberlain. When the Second World War broke out, he was commissioned as a Major into the Royal Horse Guards (attd. 12th Royal Lancers, Royal Armoured Corps) and was killed in action on 23 May 1940, aged 32. He had previously served in the North Irish Horse. He is buried at Wormhoudt Communal Cemetery in France.

Family

Lord Erne married Lady Davidema Katharine Cynthia Mary Millicent Bulwer-Lytton (1909–1995), daughter of Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton, and Pamela Plowden, in 1931. He was succeeded in his titles by his two-year-old only son Henry. Lady Erne later married the Conservative politician "Monty" Woodhouse.