Charles Lyell, 3rd Baron Lyell

Charles Lyell, 3rd Baron Lyell, DL (27 March 1939 – 11 January 2017) was a British politician and Conservative member of the House of Lords.

Lord Lyell was the son of Charles Lyell, 2nd Baron Lyell and Sophie Mary Trafford (1916–2012).

He succeeded to the peerage in 1943 at the age of 4 when his father was killed in action during the Second World War and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. On the formation of a Conservative government after the 1979 general election, Lord Lyell was made a House of Lords whip, serving until 1984. He was then moved to the Northern Ireland Office as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State where he remained until he left the government in 1989.

With the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999, Lord Lyell along with almost all other hereditary peers lost his automatic right to sit in the House of Lords. He was however elected as one of the 92 elected hereditary peers to remain in the House of Lords pending completion of House of Lords reform.

Lyell was Honorary Patron of Forfar Athletic F.C. and had been a supporter since a young age. He was a regular visitor to Station Park, always sponsoring the last home game of the season.

He died on 11 January 2017. At that time, he was the third longest serving member of the House of Lords, after Lord Carrington and Lord Denham. The barony became extinct on his death.

Arms

Coat of arms of Baron Lyell

Crest Upon a rock a dexter cubit arm erect in armour proper, charged with a cross parted and fretty gules, the hand grasping a sword in bend sinister also proper. Escutcheon Or a cross parted and fretty azure between four crosses patée gules, all within a bordure of the last. Supporters No supporters recorded at the College of Arms Motto Forti non Ignavo (To the brave, not to the dastardly).

References

• Ministerial posts

External links

• The Telegraph obituary