# William Leveson-Gower, 4th Earl Granville

William Spencer Leveson-Gower, 4th Earl Granville (11 July 1880 – 25 June 1953), styled The Honourable William Leveson-Gower until 1939, was a British naval commander and governor from the Leveson-Gower family.

## Background

Leveson-Gower was the younger son of Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, by his second wife Castilia Rosalind Campbell (daughter of Walter Frederick Campbell).

## Career

After Wixenford School, William Leveson-Gower joined the Royal Navy in 1894. He was promoted to Sub Lieutenant in 1900, and lieutenant on 26 June 1902, when he was re-appointed to the torpedo cruiser HMS Scout. In August 1902 he was posted to HMS Hood, serving with the Mediterranean Fleet.
Promotion to commander followed in 1913. Leveson-Gower served in the First World War and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1919.
Leveson-Gower was appointed Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, The Nore in 1924, aide-de-camp to the King in 1929 and Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland in 1931. He was made a Companion of the Bath in 1930 and retired in 1935.
Leveson-Gower became Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man in 1937. He set up the War Consultative Committee in November 1939 to act as a 'war cabinet' during World War II. The committee consisted of members of the House of Keys and the Legislative Council of the Isle of Man.
In 1939 Leveson-Gower succeeded his elder brother in the earldom. Granville was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in 1945 and became Governor of Northern Ireland in 1945, serving until 1952. He was made a Knight Companion of the Garter that same year.

## Family

In 1916, Lord Granville married Lady Rose Bowes-Lyon, the second surviving daughter of the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and elder sister of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. They had two children, five grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren:
* Lady Mary Cecilia Leveson-Gower (12 December 1917 – 13 February 2014), who married Sir Samuel Clayton (8 January 1918 – February 2004) on 7 July 1956. They had two children and one grandson:
** Gilbert Falkingham Clayton (4 September 1958), who married Rosalind Mullen in 1994. They have one son:
*** Samuel Wittewronge Kit Clayton (February 2002)
** Rose Cecilia Clayton (25 January 1960), who married William Wordie Stancer on 9 July 1993. They have one son:
*** Jamie Wordie "Jock" Stancer (4 June 2001)
* Granville James Leveson-Gower, 5th Earl Granville (6 December 1918 – 31 October 1996), who married Doon Aileen Plunket (1931–2003) on 9 October 1958. They had three children and nine grandchildren:
** Granville George Fergus Leveson-Gower, 6th Earl Granville (10 September 1959), who married Anne Topping on 23 May 1997. They have three children:
*** Lady Rose Alice Leveson-Gower (16 April 1998)
*** George James Leveson-Gower, Lord Leveson (22 July 1999)
*** Lady Violet May Leveson-Gower (5 August 2002)
** Lady Marcia Rose Aileen Leveson-Gower (10 February 1961 – 3 August 2005), who married Jonathan Charles Bulmer in 1986. They had four children:
*** Hesper Rose Constance Bulmer (1990)
*** James Alexander Howard Bulmer (1992)
*** Hector Charles Marcus Bulmer (1993)
*** Lara Bulmer (29 August 1995)
** The Hon. Niall James Leveson-Gower (24 August 1963), who married Amanda Blaxell in 1996. They have one set of twins:
*** Charlie Leveson-Gower (14 February 2000)
*** Honor Leveson-Gower (14 February 2000)
Lord Granville died in June 1953, aged 72. He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium. The Countess Granville died in 1967.