Edward Russell, 26th Baron de Clifford

Lieutenant Colonel Edward Southwell Russell, 26th Baron de Clifford, OBE, TD (31 January 1907 – 3 January 1982) was the only son of Jack Southwell Russell, 25th Baron de Clifford, and Eva Carrington.

He became the last peer to be tried in the House of Lords, in 1935, for a felony, vehicular manslaughter, and was found not guilty. He lost his father to a road accident; in his maiden speech in 1928 in the House of Lords he called for mandatory driving tests. Later he spoke for speed limits, both of which measures were introduced in 1934. He was one of four peers to have at times before 1945 supported Oswald Mosley and his British Union of Fascists.

He was born in Belgravia, London, educated at Eton College and studied engineering at Imperial College London. In 1926 he was commissioned into the 21st (Royal Gloucestershire Hussars) Armoured Car Company of the Territorial Army; he was promoted Lieutenant in 1929 and Captain in 1938. His hobby was racing cars before 1936, and he was a young supporter of fascist Oswald Mosley and his British Union of Fascists.

In 1926 in Marylebone he married Dorothy Evelyn Meyrick, daughter of 43 Club owner Kate Meyrick. Since he was nineteen, the law at the time required him to have his mother's consent to the marriage, which he knew he could not obtain due to his fiancée's association with the West End. He therefore lied about his age claiming to be 21, for which he was fined £50 by the Lord Mayor of London in the magistrates' court.

...
Wikipedia