George Ralph Charles Ormsby-Gore, 3rd Baron Harlech, (21 January 1855 – 8 May 1938), was a British soldier and Conservative Member of Parliament.

Background and education

Harlech was the son of William Richard Ormsby-Gore, 2nd Baron Harlech, and Lady Emily Charlotte Seymour, and was educated at Eton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

Military career

He served in the regular army as a lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards from 1875 to 1883. He later served in the Shropshire Yeomanry, becoming its commanding officer as lieutenant-colonel from 1902 to 1907, and was honorary colonel from 1908. He commanded the Welsh Guards at home during the First World War in 1915. He was chairman of the Salop Territorial Army Association.

Political career

He was elected to the House of Commons for Oswestry in a by-election in May 1901, a seat he held until 1904 when he succeeded his father as third Baron Harlech and entered the House of Lords.

Crown appointments

Lord Harlech was a justice of the peace for both County Leitrim and Shropshire and High Sheriff of Leitrim for 1885. He was appointed to be a deputy lieutenant of Merionethshire in 1896 and of Shropshire in 1897. Harlech also served as Lord Lieutenant of Leitrim from 1904 to 1922 and as Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire from 1927 to 1938, as well as Constable of Harlech Castle from 1927 until his death.

Honours and decorations

Harlech was also awarded the Knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem From 1926 to 1938 he was served as Provincial Grand Master of Freemasonry in Shropshire and was a member of the Lodge of St. Oswald (No. 1124), which is now also known as the Harlech Lodge of Perfection.

Arms

Personal life

Lord Harlech married Lady Margaret Ethel Gordon, daughter of Charles Gordon, 10th Marquess of Huntly, on 25 July 1881. They had one child : His family seats were Brogyntyn, Oswestry; Derrycarne, County Leitrim, Glyn, Merionethshire. Harlech died in May 1938, aged 83, and was succeeded in the barony by his son. Lady Harlech died in 1950. The couple are buried in the parish churchyard of Selattyn near Oswestry. Their southern English home was Tetworth Hall at Ascot in Berkshire.

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