John Ryder, 5th Earl of Harrowby


John Herbert Dudley Ryder, 5th Earl of Harrowby, briefly known as Viscount Sandon from March to December 1900, was a British peer and Conservative Member of Parliament. Harrowby was the son of Henry Dudley Ryder, 4th Earl of Harrowby, and Susan Juliana Maria Hamilton Dent.

Career

He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was elected to the House of Commons for Gravesend in 1898, a seat he held until 1900 when he succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords. From 1927-48 he held the honorary post of Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire.

Marriage

Lord Harrowby married Mabel Danvers Smith, daughter of William Henry Smith and Emily Danvers, Viscountess Hambleden, in 1887. As a result of her marriage, Mabel Ryder was styled as Countess of Harrowby effective 11 December 1900.
Mabel, Countess of Harrowby, was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1919. She died on 27 March 1956.

Death

He died in March 1956, only three days after his wife, aged 91, and was succeeded in his titles by his sole surviving child, his son, Dudley.