Died December 14, 1997 Name Gerald 9th | Nationality British | |
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Born 26 April 1924 ( 1924-04-26 ) Children William Legge, 10th Earl of DartmouthHon. Rupert LeggeCharlotte, Duchess of CarcaciHon. Henry Legge Spouse Raine Spencer, Countess Spencer (m. 1948) Parents Roma Ernestine Horlick, Humphry Legge, 8th Earl of Dartmouth Similar People Raine Spencer - Countess, Barbara Cartland, William Legge - 10th Earl, John Spencer | ||
Gerald Humphry Legge, 9th Earl of Dartmouth (26 April 1924 – 14 December 1997), styled Viscount Lewisham between 1958 and 1962, was a British peer and businessman.
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Background and education
Legge was the only son of Humphry Legge, 8th Earl of Dartmouth and his wife, Roma Ernestine (née Horlick). He was educated at Eton College.
Career
On leaving Eton in 1942, he joined the Coldstream Guards as a Captain and served with them until the end of the Second World War, having been mentioned in despatches. He was subsequently a director of the farming company Rea Bros (based at Ashcombe House) from 1958 to 1989, chairman of the Royal Choral Society from 1970 to 1992 and chairman of the Anglo-Brazilian Society from 1975 to 1994. He succeeded his father in the earldom in 1962.
Family
Lord Dartmouth married Raine McCorquodale, the only child of the romance novelist Barbara Cartland and her first husband, Alexander McCorquodale, on 1 July 1948. They had four children:
Lord and Lady Dartmouth divorced in 1976. Lady Dartmouth later married the 8th Earl Spencer and became the stepmother of Lady Diana Spencer (later the Princess of Wales), while Lord Dartmouth married Gwendoline May Seguin four years later. Lord Dartmouth died on 14 December 1997 and was succeeded by his oldest son, William.