John Grimston, 6th Earl of Verulam
John Grimston, 6th Earl of Verulam, styled the Honourable John Grimston until 1960, was an aristocratic Conservative Member of Parliament later becoming a member of the House of Lords.
Early life and education
Born in 1912 at St Albans, Hertfordshire, the second son of James Grimston, 4th Earl of Verulam and his wife Lady Violet Constance Maitland Brabazon, youngest daughter of Reginald Brabazon, 12th Earl of Meath, he was educated at Oundle School and Christ Church, Oxford.Grimston was a tobacco farmer in Southern Rhodesia for two years before becoming director and general manager of Enfield Rolling Mills in 1938.
Royal Air Force
Grimston joined the Royal Air Force Reserve of Officers in 1930 as a pilot being injured in an aircraft accident in 1933. In 1937 he was commissioned as a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and served in Coastal Command during the Second World War.Political career
The Hon. John Grimston was elected to the House of Commons as MP for St Albans at the by-election in 1943, but was defeated at the 1945 general election by the Labour candidate Cyril Dumpleton. However, he regained the seat at the 1950 general election, which he held until he retired from the House of Commons at the 1959 general election.Succeeding to the earldom upon his elder brother's death in 1960, he sat in the House of Lords until his death in 1973.
Marriage and children
He married in 1938 Marjorie Ray Duncan, daughter of Walter Atholl Duncan and wife Clara Ray Parks, maternal aunt of Iona Campbell, Duchess of Argyll and sister-in-law of David Lockhart-Mure Renton, Baron Renton.The Earl and Countess of Verulam had five children:
- Lady Elizabeth Harriot Grimston, married John Savile, 8th Earl of Mexborough, having two children.
- Lady Hermione Frances Grimston
- Lady Romayne Bryony Grimston
- John Duncan Grimston, 7th Earl of Verulam
- Lady Iona Charlotte Grimston, married Henry, 8th Marquess Conyngham, having one daughter.