Francis Egerton Grosvenor, 8th Earl of Wilton (born 8 February 1934), is an Anglo-Australian aristocrat, and academic.
The Earl of Wilton | |
---|---|
Earl of Wilton | |
Assumed office 1999 | |
Preceded by | Seymour Egerton |
Baron Ebury | |
Assumed office 5 May 1957 | |
Preceded by | Robert Grosvenor |
Personal details | |
Born | Francis Egerton Grosvenor 8 February 1934 |
Spouses | Gilian Soames
(m. 1957; div. 1962)Kyra Aslin
(m. 1963; div. 1973)Suzanne Suckling
(m. 1974; died 2018) |
Children |
|
Parents | |
Alma mater | Melbourne University |
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.
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]
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:
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.