The 5th Earl of Lovelace – obituary

The 5th Earl of Lovelace, who has died aged 66, was the last custodian of a distinguished and colourful line of descent stemming from, among others, the poet Lord Byron, the 17th-century philosopher John Locke and Jane Seymour, the third of Henry VIII’s wives.

The family fortunes were founded by Peter King, the son of Locke’s cousin and a grocer from Exeter, who rose to become Lord Chief Justice and, in 1725, Lord Chancellor. He was ennobled that year as Baron King and Ockham. A century later, the 8th Baron, a diplomat, was married to Ada, the only legitimate child of Byron, born to his wife, known as Annabella and in her own right Baroness Wentworth.

Ada was a considerable heiress as well as...