John Grimston, 6th Earl of Verulam

John Grimston, 6th Earl of Verulam (17 July 1912 – 15 April 1973), styled the Honourable John Grimston until 1960, was a British peer and Conservative Member of Parliament (MP).

Born John Grimston on 17 July 1912 in St Albans, Hertfordshire, Verulam was the second son of James Walter Grimston, 4th Earl of Verulam, and Lady Violet Constance Maitland Brabazon. He was educated at Oundle School and Christ Church, Oxford. He was a tobacco farmer in Southern Rhodesia for two years before becoming director and general manager of Enfield Rolling Mills in 1938.

Verulam had joined Royal Air Force Reserve of Officers in 1930 as a pilot, he was injured in an aircraft accident in 1933. In 1937 he joined the Auxiliary Air Force and served in Coastal Command during the second world war as a pilot.

He was elected to the House of Commons as MP for St Albans at by-election in 1943, but was defeated at the 1945 general election by the Labour candidate Cyril Dumpleton. However, he ousted Dumpleton from the seat at the 1950 general election, and held it until he retired from the House of Commons at the 1959 general election. In 1960 he succeeded his elder brother in the earldom and entered the House of Lords.

Lord Verulam married Marjorie Ray Duncan, daughter of Walter Atholl Duncan, in 1938. The couple had five children. He died in April 1973, aged 60, and was succeeded in his titles by his only son.

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