Keith Rous, 6th Earl of Stradbroke

Last updated

Robert Keith Rous, 6th Earl of Stradbroke (born 25 March 1937) is a British peer who has lived much of his life in Australia, where he became a sheep farmer of some 15,000 acres in southern Victoria. A member of the House of Lords from July 1983 to November 1999, he rarely attended it.

Contents

Early life

The son of William Keith Rous, younger brother of the fourth earl, and his first wife Pamela Catherine Mabell Kay-Shuttleworth, a granddaughter of Ughtred Kay-Shuttleworth, 1st Baron Shuttleworth, and a sister of the 4th Baron, he was educated at Harrow School. [1]

Life in Australia

About 1957, Rous emigrated to Australia, to escape from his family and from a feud between his father and his uncle. He made a fortune in land speculation. [2] His reason for settling in Victoria may have been that his grandfather, George Rous, 3rd Earl of Stradbroke, had been Governor of the state. [3] His uncle, John Rous, 4th Earl of Stradbroke, was Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk from 1948 to 1978. [1]

Peerage

On 14 July 1983, his father succeeded an older brother, the 4th Earl, to the peerages, and the young Rous was formally styled as Viscount Dunwich; but four days later his father also died, and he became Earl of Stradbroke himself. [1] As well as succeeding to the peerages, a baronetcy, and a seat in the House of Lords, he also inherited his uncle's Henham Park estate of 3,500 acres in Suffolk, with some fifty houses and cottages, although his uncle had demolished the former family seat, Henham Hall, in 1953. However, this inheritance led to a long legal battle in England. [2]

The son-in-law of the fourth earl called Stradbroke "a malicious liar" after he had called the Henham estate "very down-at-heel, after decades of mismanagement". This led to a libel action in which Stradbroke was awarded £40,000 in damages. During the trial, the new earl from Australia featured in the tabloid press, wearing a bush hat and lacing his comments with such expressions as "fair dinkum". But his plans for a new country house were turned down, so Stradbroke set up home in a tent, and then later in a two-bedroom cottage. For nine years, he divided his life between Australia and England. [2]

By 2000, Stradbroke was back in Australia, living at Mount Fyans Station, Dundonnell, near Mortlake, Victoria, Australia, [1] a sheep station of almost 15,000 acres, with an eight-bedroom homestead built in the 1880s. [3]

In 2015, Stradbroke announced that he was selling his Mount Fyans property. A newspaper report commented that the property was famous, its owner "cheekily infamous". [4] The sale price was later reported as some $34 million. [3]

He continues to own the Henham Park estate in Suffolk, and has developed it. [2]

Personal life

On 3 September 1960, Stradbroke married firstly Dawn Antoinette Beverley, a daughter of Thomas Edward Beverley. They were divorced in 1976, having had seven children: [1]

In 1977, he married secondly Roseanna Mary Blanche Reitman, a daughter of Francis Reitman and Susan Diana Mary Vernon, and they had eight children: [1]

Stradbroke had a younger brother who took up a career in the British Army and became Lieutenant General Sir William Rous, regimental colonel of the Coldstream Guards. [1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Burke's Peerage , volume 3 (Burke's, 2003), p. 3764
  2. 1 2 3 4 Simon Hollington, Grand designs of the Earl of Fair Dinkum: When Keith from Australia claimed his inheritance, something stirred in the parish of Wangford, The Independent , 3 December 1992
  3. 1 2 3 Chinese to Buy the Earl of Stradbroke's Australian Farmland, Find Properties Overseas, 10 October 2016, accessed 5 February 2023
  4. Everard Himmelreich, "Fertile Earl, Keith Rous, seeks greener pastures", The Standard (Australia), 30 March 2015, accessed 5 February 2023 (subscription required)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duke of Northumberland</span> Dukedom in the Peerage of Great Britain

Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl Kitchener</span> British peer and military leader

Earl Kitchener, of Khartoum and of Broome in the County of Kent, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1914 for the famous officer Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener, 1st Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum. He had already been created Baron Kitchener of Khartoum, and of Aspall in the County of Suffolk, in 1898, Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum, and of the Vaal River in the Transvaal Colony, and of Aspall in the County of Suffolk, in 1902, and was made Baron Denton, of Denton in the County of Kent, and Viscount Broome, of Broome in the County of Kent, at the same time he was granted the earldom. These titles were also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Stradbroke</span> Title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Earl of Stradbroke, in the County of Suffolk, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1821 for John Rous, 1st Baron Rous, who had earlier represented Suffolk in the House of Commons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wangford</span> Human settlement in England

Wangford is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Wangford with Henham, in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England, just off the A12 trunk road on the edge of the Henham Park estate just outside Southwold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry John Rous</span>

Admiral Henry John Rous was an officer of the British Royal Navy, who served during the Napoleonic Wars, and was later a Member of Parliament and a leading figure in horse racing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Rous, 3rd Earl of Stradbroke</span> British nobleman

George Edward John Mowbray Rous, 3rd Earl of Stradbroke, was a British nobleman from Suffolk who served as a Territorial Army officer, as a junior government minister, and as the 15th Governor of Victoria, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Rous, 1st Earl of Stradbroke</span> British nobleman, race horse owner and Member of Parliament

John Rous, 1st Earl of Stradbroke, known as Sir John Rous, Bt, from 1771 to 1796 and as The Lord Rous from 1796 to 1821, was a British nobleman, race horse owner and Member of Parliament. He married Charlotte Maria Whittaker on 23 February 1792 at 11 Manchester Square, London, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Rous, 2nd Earl of Stradbroke</span> British soldier and nobleman

John Edward Cornwallis Rous, 2nd Earl of Stradbroke was a British soldier and nobleman.

John c Rous, 4th Earl of Stradbroke, KStJ, was a British nobleman, the son of George Rous, 3rd Earl of Stradbroke. He was styled Viscount Dunwich from birth until acceding to the earldom in 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henham Park</span> Park in Wangford with Henham, East Suffolk, Suffolk, England

Henham Park is an historic 4,200 acres (1,700 ha) estate in the parish of Wangford with Henham, situated north of the village of Blythburgh in the English county of Suffolk. The park is bordered to the east by the A12 road and to the west by the A145, the two roads meeting to the south of the estate.. It was historically the seat of the Earl of Stradbroke. In 1953 the 4th Earl demolished the Georgian manor house, known as Henham Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport (British Army officer)</span> British soldier and courtier (1814–1904)

General Alexander Nelson Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport, 4th Duke of Bronte, was a British Army officer and courtier.

Peers of the Realm have been associated with Australia since early in its history as a British settlement. Many peers served as governors of the Australian colonies, and in the days when the practice of appointing British governors-general was current, the great majority were peers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sotherton</span> Human settlement in England

Sotherton is a dispersed village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the English county of Suffolk. It is located approximately 7 miles (11 km) south of Beccles and 3+34 miles (6.0 km) north-east of Halesworth. The A145 road passes through the east of the parish area. The mid-2005 population estimate for Sotherton parish was 80. Uggeshall is located just to the north-east, Byford to the south and Blythburgh to the south-east. Latitude Festival takes place a couple of miles east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Thynne, 2nd Viscount Weymouth</span> English peer

Thomas Thynne, 2nd Viscount Weymouth of Longleat House in Wiltshire was an English peer, descended from Sir John Thynne (c.1515-1580) builder of Longleat.

Lieutenant General Sir William Edward Rous was a British Army officer who served as Quartermaster-General to the Forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir John Rous, 1st Baronet</span> English Member of Parliament for Dunwich

Sir John Rous, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1670.

Sir Edmund Rous, of Dunwich, Suffolk, was an English landowner, magistrate, MP and Vice-Treasurer of Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Henham Steam Rally</span>

The Grand Henham Steam Rally is a steam rally held every September at Henham Park near Southwold. It features displays of fixed and mobile steam engines and of vintage and classic cars and motorcycles. There are many events and activities, and craft, trade and food stalls. Proceeds are given to local charities. The organiser was forced into liquidation in July 2020.

Shaun James Christian Welbore Ellis Agar, 6th Earl of Normanton was an Irish and British peer, soldier, landowner, and powerboat racer. From birth until 1967 he was known by the courtesy title of Viscount Somerton. As Baron Somerton of Somerley and later as Baron Mendip he was a member of the House of Lords from 1967 until the reform of the Lords in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Keith Fraser</span>

Lieutenant-General James Keith Fraser was a British Army officer.