Name Arthur 9th | Role Hereditary peer | |
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Education Eton College, Balliol College | ||
Arthur Colum Michael Connolly-Gore, 9th Earl of Arran (born 14 July 1938), styled Viscount Sudley between 1958 and 1983, is an English peer and Lord Temporal in the House of Lords, sitting with the Conservative Party.
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Early life
Lord Arran is the son of Arthur Gore, 8th Earl of Arran and the former Fiona Colquhoun, first daughter of Sir Iain Colquhoun of Luss, 7th Baronet. He was educated at Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford.
Career
He served in the Grenadier Guards, gaining the rank of Second Lieutenant. He was the assistant manager of the Daily Mail, then assistant general manager of the Daily Express and the Sunday Express in the 1970s. He was a director of Waterstone's.
He succeeded as 9th Earl of Arran on 23 February 1983, upon the death of his father. In the Lords, Lord Arran has played an active role for the Conservative Party, serving in several junior ministerial roles. In June 2013, he opposed same-sex marriage, adding, "The Roman empire fell for three reasons. There was the worship of sporting heroes, widespread corruption and the decadence and flaunting of homosexuality. I fear that in this country we aren't too far from being decadent."
Marriage and progeny
On 28 September 1974 Arran married Eleanor van Cutsem, granddaughter of Hugh Fortescue, 5th Earl Fortescue, and heiress of the Fortescue seat of Castle Hill, in Devon. She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2008. Lord and Lady Arran run the Fortescue family's stately home, Castle Hill House and gardens in Devon, as a venue for weddings and corporate hospitality. They also let out 50 properties on the surrounding 5,000-acre Filleigh estate in Devon. He has no son, but has two daughters:
Heir presumptive
Since Lord Arran has no sons by his wife, and all other lines of descent from the 4th Earl of Arran have died out, his heir presumptive is currently his very distant cousin, William Henry Gore (born 1950), who lives in Australia, descended from the youngest brother of the 4th Earl.