Name John 5th | ||
 | ||
Parents Noel Lytton, 4th Earl of Lytton Grandparents Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth Great-grandparents Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, Anne Blunt, 15th Baroness Wentworth | ||
John Peter Michael Scawen Lytton, 5th Earl of Lytton, 18th Baron Wentworth, DL, FRICS (born 7 June 1950), styled Viscount Knebworth between 1951 and 1985, is a British surveyor and House of Lords member.
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Background and education
Lytton is the son of Noel Lytton, 4th Earl of Lytton. He is a descendant of the poet and adventurer Lord Byron (born 1788), via his daughter Ada Lovelace (born 1815), arguably the world's first computer programmer. Her daughter Anne (born 1837) married the poet Wilfrid Scawen Blunt; their daughter Judith Blunt-Lytton was Noel's mother and thus John's grandmother. He was educated at Downside School and graduated from the University of Reading with a BSc honours degree in Estate Management, in 1972. He is a descendent of Edward Bulwer-Lytton, too.
Career
After spending thirteen years in the Inland Revenue Valuation Office and some additional years with surveying firms Permutt Brown & Co and Cubitt & West, he set up the practice of John Lytton & Co., Chartered Surveyors, in January, 1988. He succeeded his father in the earldom in 1985. He lost his seat in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999. However, on 11 May 2011 he won a hereditary peer by-election and regained his seat there, where he sits as a crossbencher, i.e. not a member of a political party.
Lord Lytton has taken his Byronic descent to heart and has contributed to the Newstead Byron Society Review. He has also spoken before the Byron Society on his family history.
Furthermore, he now works part-time in the construction industry.
Family
Lord Lytton married Ursula Alexandra Komoly on 7 June 1980. They have three children: Lady Katrina Mary Noel Lytton (1985), Philip Anthony Scawen Lytton, Viscount Knebworth (7 March 1989) and Hon. Wilfrid Thomas Scawen Lytton (8 January 1992). He inherited Newbuildings Place in 1984 from his aunt, Lady Anne Lytton. His cousins maintain the family estate, Knebworth House. He is a Deputy Lieutenant for West Sussex.