The 5th Earl of Granville, MC; born December 6, 1918, died November 1, 1996
GRANVILLE James Leveson-Gower, 5th Earl of Granville, who has died in London, was first cousin to the Queen. His mother, Lady Rose Bowes-Lyon, was the third daughter of the nine children of the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorn. The Queen Mother was
Lord Strathmore's youngest child, and therefore Lord Granville's aunt.
Educated at Eton, Leveson-Gower joined the Coldstream Guards, attaining the rank of major. During the Second World War he was stationed in North Africa and Italy, where he was awarded the Military Cross for bravery.
In 1953, the same year as he inherited the earldom from his father, he was appointed President of the Navy League, a post he held until 1966.
In 1958 he married Doon Plunket, a granddaughter of the 5th Baron Plunket, and great-granddaughter of the 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava. Through this connection she is also a descendant of the Dublin-born poet Richard Brinsley Sheridan. They had two sons and
one daughter.
The Island of North Uist was purchased in 1961, and although the family also had a home in London, Callernish in Sollas was their main address. Nearby, on Loch Roag, are the famous standing stones from pre-history. Lord Granville developed a special love and knowledge of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, and, until local government reorganisation took place, he served as Deputy-Lieutenant of Inverness-shire, thereafter as Vice-Lord Lieutenant for the Western Isles (Islands Area). From 1976 until 1981 he
was Lord Lieutenant of the Western Isles.
The earldom now passes to his eldest son, Lord Leveson. His daughter, Marcia, is married to Jonathan Bulmer of the well-known cider family, who owns an estate on the neighbouring island of Harris. His youngest son, Neil Leveson, was recently married in London, and it
was following this happy event that Lord Granville was taken ill.
The Leveson-Gower family's paternal Scottish associations are controversial.
The 1st Earl of Granville was the younger brother of the notorious Marquess of Stafford who, having married the heiress to the Sutherland estates, instigated the Highland Clearances.
However, his great-great grand nephew had no such reforming zeal and was well-liked by the local community, who saw him as both kindly and considerate, a perfect gentleman of the old school.
It was apparent to all who knew him that he seemed perfectly content to live out his remaining days in the Hebrides where he enjoyed a healthy out-of-doors lifestyle. He was undergoing tests for a heart by-pass operation in London when he collapsed and died of a heart attack.
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