Frederick Perceval, 11th Earl of Egmont

Frederick George Moore Perceval, 11th Earl of Egmont (14 April 1914 – 8 December 2001) was a Canadian farmer and peer. Born in Calgary, upon the ascension of his father as the 10th Earl of Egmont, he and Perceval moved to Avon Castle in Ringwood, Hampshire. When the 10th Earl died in 1932, Perceval inherited his estate and title and promptly moved back to Canada, selling the castle. Marrying Geraldine Moodie in August, they soon built a home on a piece of land they bought right outside Priddis, Alberta, where Perceval was raised. When a fire destroyed that home, they built a new one and sold Avon Castle. They bought the Two-Dot Ranch in 1959 at Nanton, Alberta, where Perceval died in 2001. He was succeeded by his son Thomas as the 11th Earl of Egmont.

Life and career


Frederick George Moore Perceval was born on 14 April 1914 in Calgary, Alberta, to Frederick Joseph Travelyan and Cecilia Perceval. His parents had emigrated to Alberta in 1900, where they bought a ranch in Priddis, Alberta, and where Perceval was raised. Cecilia died two years after the birth of Perceval in 1916, which led to a closer relationship between he and his father. In 1929, his father became the 10th Earl of Egmont after the death of their distant cousin Charles Perceval, 9th Earl of Egmont. The now-10th Earl took the younger Perceval and moved to England, where they resided at the family's seat Avon Castle in Ringwood, Hampshire. After the inheritance, two people attempted to challenge the claim to both the title and land: a baker from Hornsey claiming he was born in Australia to the brother of the 6th Earl of Egmont; and a retired optician from Lancaster. Both cases ended up being dismissed in court, however the House of Lords did not recognise the Percevals' claim until 1939, several years after the death of the 10th Earl. The two were used to their lives in Canada and the 10th Earl would often refuse servants. Him and Perceval would often do chores themselves; this earned the 10th Earl the nickname "the loneliest peer in England," with Perceval being nicknamed "the loneliest boy in the world."

In May 1932 the 10th Earl died in a car accident in Southampton, with 18-year-old Perceval inheriting both the title and his roughly million-dollar estate. As Earl of Egmont, Perceval was entitled to sit in the House of Lords from 16 May 1932 to 11 November 1999, when the House of Lords Act 1999 was passed, excluding all but ninety-two hereditary peers from the House. Perceval never ended up taking his seat, described as having rather sit on a horse than in the House. Similar to his father, Perceval felt displeasure about residing in England and moved back to Canada in June.

Two months after arriving, on 31 August 1932, he married his cousin Geraldine Moodie, an orthodontic nurse. During their honeymoon, the couple was followed by journalists, and Perceval was described as being "the only member of the House of Lords who could rope, throw and brand a steer." Perceval and Moodie had 8 children: Thomas, Gordon, June Rose, Patrick, Frederick, Donald, Geraldine, Elizabeth. They were also the foster parents of a girl named Connie. Moodie died in 1995.

For a brief moment the newly-wed couple were indecisive where they wanted to reside, and often moved between England and southern Alberta. They decided to live in Alberta and bought roughly 680 acres of land right ouside Priddis on the intersection of Macleod Trail and Willow Park Drive, building a Tudor-styled home on it. After the home burned down in 1938, they temporarily moved to England, where Perceval bought a car he travelled the country with and planned to send his son to Eton College. Eventually, they decided to stay in Priddis where he built a new 26-room house and sold Avon Castle for $378 thousand.

In 1959 their current property, named Egmont Ranch, was threatened by urban sprawl. As a result, Perceval sold the ranch to the Kelwood Corporation, reported at a price to be roughly £350 thousand ($980 thousand) and he bought the Two-Dot Ranch at Nanton—sized at 5080 acres—from Claude Gallinger for $284 thousand. After the approval of the House of Lords Act 1999, Perceval reportedly expressed regrets about not taking his seat in the House.

Perceval died at his ranch of heart failure on 8 December 2001. He was buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in Calgary in a private ceremony on 10 December. He was succeeded by his son Thomas as the 12th Earl of Egmont and Two-Dot Ranch was auctioned off.