William Ward, 3rd Earl of Dudley


William Humble Eric Ward, 3rd Earl of Dudley, MC TD, known as Viscount Ednam until 1932, was a British Conservative Party politician.

Early life

Lord Dudley was the eldest son of William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley, and his wife Rachel CBE. Among his siblings was George Ward, 1st Viscount Ward of Witley, Lady Gladys Honor Ward and Lady Morvyth Lillian Ward.
His paternal grandparents were William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley and the former Georgina Elizabeth Moncreiffe. His maternal grandparents were Charles Henry Gurney and Alice Prinsep Gurney. His maternal aunt was Laura Troubridge, Lady Troubridge.
He was educated at Eton.

Career

Ward inherited a number of industrial concerns in the Black Country region of England, notably the Round Oak Steelworks and Baggeridge Colliery. In 1937, he set up Dudley Zoo within the grounds of Dudley Castle, once the seat of the Barons of Dudley.

Military service

Dudley was commissioned into the Worcestershire Yeomanry in 1912. In 1914 he transferred to the regular 10th Hussars. He was promoted Lieutenant in 1915 and ended the World War I as a Captain, and had been awarded the Military Cross.
After the war, he joined the Staffordshire Yeomanry, becoming a Major and receiving the Territorial Decoration. In 1933 he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 51st Medium Brigade, Royal Artillery.

Political career

Dudley sat as the Member of Parliament for Hornsey from 1921 to 1924 and for Wednesbury from 1931 to 1932 and served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Under-Secretary of State for India, Lord Winterton, between 1922 and 1924. He also held the honorary post of High Sheriff of Worcestershire in 1930.
In the House of Lords, Dudley was notable for opposing the Sexual Offences Act 1967, which partially decriminalized male homosexuality. He stated,
Gay rights activist Peter Tatchell said, "The Earl of Dudley's contribution in the Lords sums up the level of the opposition's argument ."

Personal life

Dudley married firstly Lady Rosemary Millicent Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, only surviving daughter of Cromartie Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 4th Duke of Sutherland, on 8 March 1919. She died in a plane crash in 1930, aged 36; she was survived by two of her three sons. Their children were:
He married secondly Viscountess Laura Long née Charteris, daughter of Guy Lawrence Charteris and former wife of Walter Long, 2nd Viscount Long, on 25 February 1943. The marriage was childless and they were divorced in 1954. Laura went on to marry Michael Temple Canfield in 1960 and, after his death in 1969, John Spencer-Churchill, 10th Duke of Marlborough shortly before his death. The Dowager Duchess of Marlborough died in 1990.
In 1961, Dudley married thirdly to Grace Maria Radziwill, daughter of Dr. Michael Kolin and Anna Tironi of Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia. Grace was the former wife of Prince Stanislaus Radziwill. This marriage was also childless.
Dudley died in December 1969, aged 75, and was succeeded by his eldest son William. After his death, his widow lived with the American editor Robert B. Silvers for nearly four decades from 1975 until her death in 2016.

Other relationships

He is said to have fathered a daughter in 1923 with the aristocrat and socialite Venetia Stanley, although the legal father was her husband Edwin Samuel Montagu. This child grew up to befriend Princess Margaret during World War II and marry the American photographer Milton Gendel, with whom she created an artistic salon in Italy.
Mandy Rice-Davies claimed that the Earl was one of the customers at Murray's Cabaret Club, where she worked as a showgirl, and that he proposed to her when she was 17. "I could have been a dowager duchess by the time I was 22." she said.