Lieutenant-Colonel Ririd Myddelton, MVO KStJ DL JP (25 February 1902 – 7 February 1988), was a country gentleman and one-time member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom.

Ririd Myddelton
High Sheriff of Denbighshire
In office
1951–1952
Preceded byCharles McLaren
Succeeded byJohn Francis McLaren
Personal details
Born(1902-02-25)25 February 1902
Died7 February 1988(1988-02-07) (aged 85)
Spouse
Lady Mary Margaret Elizabeth Petty-Fitzmaurice
(m. 1931)
RelationsWilliam Nevill, 1st Marquess of Abergavenny (grandfather)
Reginald Nevill, 2nd Marquess of Abergavenny (uncle)
Henry Nevill, 3rd Marquess of Abergavenny (uncle)
Children3
Parent(s)Robert Edward Myddelton
Lady Violet Nevill
ResidenceChirk Castle
EducationEton College
Alma materRoyal Military College, Sandhurst

Early life edit

Myddelton was born on 25 February 1902 and was named after an Myddelton ancestor.[1] He was the eldest son of Col. Robert Edward Myddelton (1866–1949)[2] and Lady Violet Nevill (1866–1910) who married in 1898. His mother was divorced in 1897 from Henry Wellesley, 3rd Earl Cowley, and from that marriage, Myddelton's older half-brother was Christian Wellesley, 4th Earl Cowley.[3] From his parents marriage, he had a sister, Idina Joan Myddelton (the wife of John Charles Trueman Mills, and later, Roland Cubitt, 3rd Baron Ashcombe), and a younger brother, Thomas Foulk Myddelton.

His paternal grandparents were Richard Myddelton (son of Robert Myddelton Biddulph MP for Denbigh Boroughs and Denbighshire) and Catherine Arabella Howard (a granddaughter of chemist Edward Charles Howard, a brother of Bernard Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk).[4] His mother was the youngest daughter of William Nevill, 1st Marquess of Abergavenny. Among his maternal family were uncles, Reginald Nevill, 2nd Marquess of Abergavenny and Henry Nevill, 3rd Marquess of Abergavenny and aunts Lady Idina Nevill (wife of Thomas Brassey, 2nd Earl Brassey) and Lady Rose Nevill (wife of Kenelm Pepys, 4th Earl of Cottenham).[5]

He was educated at Eton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

Career edit

He was an officer in the Coldstream Guards 1923 to 1946.

In 1928-1931 Myddelton was adjutant of the 3rd Battalion of the Coldstream Guards. In 1934-1937 he was a staff Captain in London District. He then joined the Royal Household as Deputy Master of the Household, an office he vacated in 1939 at the outbreak of World War II. However, by 1944 he was back in office. In 1939 to 1940 he was Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General in London District. In 1942 he took the Staff College, Camberley War Course, and subsequently commanded the 1st (Armoured) Battalion Coldstream Guards 1942-1944, including during the Normandy landings after D-Day and the advance across north west Europe.

From 1952 until his death in 1988 he was an Extra Equerry to The Queen.

Myddelton was made a MVO in 1945, and was appointed a DL in 1949 and a JP in 1948, and was Vice Lieutenant of Denbigh 1968-1974. He became a KStJ in 1961. He was High Sheriff of Denbighshire 1951-1952.

Personal life edit

 
Myddelton's seat, Chirk Castle.

On 27 July 1931, Myddelton was married to Mary Margaret Elizabeth Mercer Nairne (1910–2003), who usually went by her middle name, Margaret, a daughter of Major Lord Charles Mercer Nairne and his wife, the former Lady Violet Elliot-Murray-Kynymound (daughter of Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto). Her younger brother was George Petty-Fitzmaurice, 8th Marquess of Lansdowne and she was granted the rank of a marquess's daughter in 1946.[6] After Margaret's father was killed in action at Ypres in 1914, her mother remarried to MP for Dover John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever (fourth son of William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor).[7] From her mother's second marriage, she had three half-siblings, including Gavin Astor, 2nd Baron Astor of Hever and John Astor, MP for Newbury.[8] Together, Lady Margaret and Ririd were the parents of:[9]

Myddelton died on 7 February 1988. Myddelton's seat was Chirk Castle, which was occupied by the family until 2004.[13]

Descendants edit

Through his eldest son, he was a grandfather of three: Guy Charles Myddelton (b. 1966), Sian Moyra Myddelton (b. 1971), and Mark Ririd Myddelton (b. 1973).[10]

References edit

  1. ^ Burke, John (1846). A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland: M to Z. Henry Colburn. p. 906. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  2. ^ "Col. Robert Myddelton". The New York Times. 17 August 1949. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Cowley, Earl (UK, 1857)". cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  4. ^ A Memoir of Chirk Castle and the Myddelton Family, A.D.1011 to A.D.1859. H. Roberts, printer. 1859. p. 46. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Abergavenny, Marquess of (UK, 1876)". cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  6. ^ "No. 37502". The London Gazette. 15 March 1946. p. 1387.
  7. ^ Gottlieb, Julie V. (2016). 'Guilty Women', Foreign Policy, and Appeasement in Inter-War Britain. Springer. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-137-31660-8. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  8. ^ Harrison, Rosina (2011). Rose: My Life in Service to Lady Astor. Penguin. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-101-56570-4. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  9. ^ Ltd, e3 Media. "Lt-Colonel Ririd Myddelton (1902 - 1988) with his wife Lady Margaret Elizabeth Petty-Fitzmaurice, Lady Myddelton (1910-2003) and their children Captain David Foulk Myddelton (b. 1932), Fiona Violet Myddelton, Lady Aird, LVO, CVO (b.1934) and Hugh Robert Myddelton (b. 1938) 1171210". www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk. National Trust Collections. Retrieved 1 May 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ a b "Lt.-Col. Ririd Myddelton". www.thepeerage.com. The Peerage. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  11. ^ "Aird, Fiona Violet, (Lady Aird), (born 24 Sept. 1934), Extra Lady-in-Waiting to HRH Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, 1963–2002". Who's Who. Oxford University Press. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u9783.
  12. ^ "Mr. Hugh Myddelton and his bride, the former Miss Sarah Allsopp. - Vintage photo". eBay.com. eBay. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  13. ^ Jones, John Idris (2018). Secret Wrexham. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-4456-7701-9. Retrieved 1 May 2020.

External links edit

Honorary titles
Preceded by High Sheriff of Denbighshire
1951
Succeeded by