Francis Grosvenor, 8th Earl of Wilton

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The Earl of Wilton
Earl of Wilton
Assumed office
1999
Preceded bySeymour Egerton
Baron Ebury
Assumed office
5 May 1957
Preceded byRobert Grosvenor
Personal details
Born
Francis Egerton Grosvenor

(1934-02-08) 8 February 1934 (age 90)
Spouses
Gilian Soames
(m. 1957; div. 1962)
Kyra Aslin
(m. 1963; div. 1973)
Suzanne Suckling
(m. 1974; died 2018)
Children
  • Julian, Viscount Grey de Wilton
  • Lady Georgina Mitev
Parents
Alma materMelbourne University

Francis Egerton Grosvenor, 8th Earl of Wilton (born 8 February 1934), is an Anglo-Australian aristocrat, and academic.

Early life[edit]

Lord Wilton is the eldest son of Robert Egerton Grosvenor, 5th Baron Ebury, DSO, and his first wife, Anne Acland-Troyte. He succeeded his father as 6th Baron Ebury in 1957 and his fourth cousin, Seymour Egerton, as 8th Earl of Wilton in 1999.[1]

Lord Wilton is also heir presumptive to the title Marquess of Westminster currently held by his distant cousin Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster.

Career[edit]

Educated at Eton College, he pursued a career in the financial services industry in London, Melbourne and Hong Kong, before taking a doctorate in Philosophy-Arts at Melbourne University (2001), where he taught as Dr Francis Ebury.[2]

Lord Wilton served on the Board of Directors of Victorian Opera (Melbourne) 2012–17.[3]

Marriages and children[edit]

Lord Wilton has married three times.[4] He was married firstly on 10 December 1957 to Gillian Elfrida Astley Soames (marriage dissolved 1962). They had one son:

Secondly, he married Kyra Aslin on 8 March 1963 (marriage dissolved 1973) without issue.

Thirdly, he married Suzanne Jean Suckling (4 August 1943 – 12 April 2018) in 1974. They remained married until her death 44 years later and had one daughter:

  • Lady Georgina Lucy Grosvenor (29 March 1973 – 16 August 2003), a noted violist, married in 2000 to Dr Peter Mitev.[5]

His third wife was a biographer who wrote under the name "Sue Ebury": The Many Lives of Kenneth Myer; Weary the Life of Sir Edward Dunlop, Weary: King Of The River. An editor and publisher, Lady Wilton was also a member of the Development Council of the National Library of Australia and patron of the Australian Garden History Society.

Styles[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Earl of Wilton
1999–present
Incumbent
Heir apparent:
Julian Grosvenor,
Viscount Grey de Wilton
Preceded by Baron Ebury
1957–present