Gerald Spring Rice, 6th Baron Monteagle of Brandon
Gerald Spring Rice, 6th Baron Monteagle of Brandon | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 5, 1926 Mount Trenchard House |
| Died | November 17, 2013 (aged 87) |
| Occupation(s) | British Army officer, banker, hereditary peer |
| Years active | 1944–1999 |
| Known for | Conservative hereditary peer in the House of Lords |
Gerald Spring Rice, 6th Baron Monteagle of Brandon (5 July 1926 – 17 November 2013) was a British Army officer of Anglo-Irish descent, a banker, and a Conservative hereditary peer.
Early life
Born at the family residence, Mount Trenchard House, Spring Rice was the son of Charles Spring Rice, 5th Baron Monteagle of Brandon and Emilie de Kosenko, who was American. His upbringing took place at Glanleam on Valentia Island, located in County Kerry. He received his education initially at Harrow School and later, during the peak of the U-Boat threat in 1940, he attended St Columba's College, Dublin.
Career
Spring Rice was called to active duty in August 1944 and commissioned into the Irish Guards. Due to medical complications requiring six months of hospitalization, he was unable to join his battalion’s frontline operations. He completed training at Mons Officer Cadet School and subsequently served in locations including Northern Ireland, Hamburg, and Palestine. Following his father's passing in 1946, he assumed the title of Baron Monteagle of Brandon and oversaw the family estate in Ireland for a period of one year.
He retired from military service with the rank of captain in 1955 and pursued a career in finance. His professional roles included positions at Panmure Gordon & Co., the London Stock Exchange from 1958 until 1976, and later at Lloyds TSB between 1978 and 1998. Additionally, he was a member of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms, serving as part of the Queen’s bodyguard from 1978 to 1996.
Spring Rice took his seat as a Conservative peer in the House of Lords on 8 July 1947. He delivered his first speech in 1992 and participated sporadically until the removal of most hereditary peers under the House of Lords Act 1999.
Family and personal life
In 1949, he married Anne Brownlow, daughter of Colonel Guy Brownlow. Together they had four children:
- Hon. Elinor Spring Rice (born 1950), who wed Myles Clare Elliott in 1974.
- Hon. Angela Spring Rice (1950–2015), who married Christopher Richard Seton Sheppard (divorced 1982) and later Peter Alan Kirby Ottewill in 1991.
- Charles Spring Rice, 7th Baron Monteagle of Brandon (born 1953), who married Mary Teresa Glover in 1987.
- Hon. Fiona Spring Rice (born 1957), who married Andrew Louis Garber in 1982.
The family sold their final property in Ireland, located in County Waterford, in 2011. Subsequently, he moved to Amesbury, Wiltshire, where he eventually died and was laid to rest.