John Henry George Crichton, 5th Earl Erne (22 November 1907 – 23 May 1940), briefly known as Viscount Crichton in 1914, was an Anglo

Anglo

Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to the Angles, England or the English people, as in the terms Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American, Anglo-Celtic, Anglo-African and Anglo-Indian. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British Isles descent in The Americas, Australia and...

-Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 peer, soldier and politician.

Biography

Erne was the only son of Henry Crichton, Viscount Crichton, himself the eldest son of John Crichton, 4th Earl Erne

John Crichton, 4th Earl Erne

John Henry Crichton, 4th Earl Erne KP, PC , known as Viscount Crichton from 1842 to 1885, was an Anglo-Irish peer and Conservative politician....

. His mother was Lady Mary Cavendish Grosvenor, daughter of Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster

Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster

Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster KG, PC, JP , styled Viscount Belgrave between 1831 and 1845 and Earl Grosvenor between 1845 and 1869 and known as the 3rd Marquess of Westminster between 1869 and 1874, was an English landowner, politician and racehorse owner.He inherited the estate of...

. In October 1914 his father was killed in action in the First World War and only a month later, aged seven, he succeeded his grandfather as fifth Earl Erne. He was active in the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

 and served as a Lord-in-Waiting

Lord-in-Waiting

Most Lords in Waiting are Government whips in the House of Lords who are members of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. As members of the Royal Household their duties are nominal, though they are occasionally required to meet visiting political and state leaders on visits...

 (government whip in the House of Lords) from 1936 to 1939 in the National Government

National Government 1935-1940

Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.-Source:*D. Butler and G. Butler, Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900–2000....

 led firstly by Stanley Baldwin

Stanley Baldwin

Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...

 and later by Neville Chamberlain

Neville Chamberlain

Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...

.

Erne was commissioned into the Royal Horse Guards

Royal Horse Guards

The Royal Horse Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry.Founded August 1650 in Newcastle Upon Tyne by Sir Arthur Haselrig on the orders of Oliver Cromwell as the Regiment of Cuirassiers, the regiment became the Earl of Oxford's Regiment during the reign of...

 from Sandhurst

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...

 in 1927. He was promoted Lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 in 1930 and resigned his commission in 1934. He later joined the North Irish Horse

North Irish Horse

The North Irish Horse is a yeomanry unit of the British Territorial Army raised in the northern counties of Ireland in the aftermath of the Second Boer War...

 and fought in the Second World War as a Major

Major

Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

.

Lord Erne married Lady Davidema Katharine Cynthia Mary Millicent Bulwer-Lytton, daughter of Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton

Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton

Victor Alexander George Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton KG, GCSI, GCIE, PC, DL , styled Viscount Knebworth until 1891, was a British politician and colonial administrator...

 and Pamela Plowden, in 1931. On 23 May 1940 he died in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 from wounds received in action during the German invasion

Battle of France

In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...

, aged 32. He was succeeded in his titles by his two-year-old only son Henry

Henry Crichton, 6th Earl Erne

Henry George Victor John Crichton, 6th Earl Erne , is an Irish peer and the current Lord Lieutenant of Fermanagh. He often styles himself simply as Harry Erne....

. Lady Erne later married the Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 politician "Monty" Woodhouse.