William Edward Parsons, 5th Earl of Rosse (14 June 1873–10 June 1918) was the son of Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse

Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse

Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse KP FRS was the son and successor of the astronomer William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse who built the "Leviathan of Parsonstown" telescope, largest of its day, and his wife, the Countess Rosse , an amateur astronomer and pioneering photographer...

 and Frances Cassandra Hawke. He was elected a Representative Peer

Representative peer

In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords...

 in 1911. He fought in the First World War and died on 10 June 1918 at age 44, from wounds received in action.

Lord Oxmantown, as he then was, was commissioned into a militia

Militia

The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...

 battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment in 1896 and 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...

 shortly afterwards. He was commissioned as a regular officer in the Coldstream Guards

Coldstream Guards

Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....

 in 1897, but transferred to the Irish Guards

Irish Guards

The Irish Guards , part of the Guards Division, is a Foot Guards regiment of the British Army.Along with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish regiments remaining in the British Army. The Irish Guards recruit in Northern Ireland and the Irish neighbourhoods of major British cities...

 on its formation in 1900. He was promoted Captain

Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)

Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...

 in 1900 and 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. ...

 in 1906. He resigned his commission in 1908, but returned to service in the First World War.

Marriage and children

He married Frances Lois Lister-Kaye, daughter of Sir Cecil Lister-Kaye, 4th Baronet and Lady Beatrice Adeline Pelham-Clinton, on 19 October 1905. They had three children:

• Lawrence Michael Harvey Parsons, 6th Earl of Rosse
  Lawrence Parsons, 6th Earl of Rosse
  Lawrence Michael Harvey Parsons, 6th Earl of Rosse was an Irish peer. He was the son of William Edward Parsons, 5th Earl of Rosse, whom he succeeded in 1918, and Frances Lois Lister-Kaye...
  
   (b. 28 September 1906, d. c 1979), married Anne Messel, daughter of Lt.-Col.
  Lieutenant-Colonel (UK)
  Lieutenant colonel is a rank in the British Army and Royal Marines which is also used in many Commonwealth countries. The rank is superior to major, and subordinate to colonel...
  
   Leonard Charles Rudolph Messel and had issue.
• Lady
  Lady
  The word lady is a polite term for a woman, specifically the female equivalent to, or spouse of, a lord or gentleman, and in many contexts a term for any adult woman...
  
   Mary Bridget Parsons (b. 27 October 1907)
• Hon. Desmond Edward Parsons (b. 13 December 1910, d. 4 July 1937)