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).

Early life and education
Verulam was born John Grimston on 17 July 1912 in St Albans, Hertfordshire, the second son of James Grimston, 4th Earl of Verulam and his wife Lady Violet Constance Maitland Brabazon. He was educated at Oundle School and Christ Church, Oxford.

Verulam was a tobacco farmer in Southern Rhodesia for two years before becoming director and general manager of Enfield Rolling Mills in 1938.

Royal Air Force
Verulam joined the Royal Air Force Reserve of Officers in 1930 as a pilot and 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.

Political career
Verulam was elected to the House of Commons as MP for St Albans at the by-election in 1943, but was defeated at the 1945 general election by the Labour candidate Cyril Dumpleton. However, he re-took 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 Verulam succeeded his elder brother James in the earldom and entered the House of Lords.

Marriage and children
Verulam married in 1938 Marjorie Ray Duncan, daughter of Walter Atholl Duncan (son of Pre-Raphaelite painter Walter Duncan) and wife Clara Ray Parks, maternal aunt of Iona Campbell, Duchess of Argyll and sister-in-law of David Lockhart-Mure Renton, Baron Renton. The couple had five children:


 * Lady Elizabeth Harriot Grimston (31 August 1939 - 1987), married (divorced 1972) John Savile, 8th Earl of Mexborough, with two children.
 * Lady Hermione Frances Grimston (born 27 September 1941)
 * Lady Romayne Bryony Grimston (born 18 August 1946)
 * John Duncan Grimston, 7th Earl of Verulam (born 21 April 1951)
 * Lady Iona Charlotte Grimston (born 25 October 1953), married Henry Conyngham, 8th Marquess Conyngham, with one daughter.

Death
Verulam died in April 1973 at the age of 60 and was succeeded in the earldom and other titles by his only son, John