John Powys, 5th Baron Lilford

Who was John Powys, 5th Baron Lilford?

John Powys, 5th Baron Lilford was born at Lilford Hall, Northamptonshire. He was the son of ornithologist Thomas Powys, 4th Baron Lilford and his wife Emma Elizabeth Powys.

Powys inherited the title of Lord Lilford in 1896 upon the death of his father along with the Lilford Hall, Bank Hall and Bewsey estates. The Lilfords used the Bank Hall estate as a holiday home until 1898. He married Milly Isabella Louisa Soltau-Symons on 9 Aug 1894 at Plympton St Mary, Devon. Powys played cricket for Northamptonshire in 1911, making a single first-class appearance against the touring India national cricket team at the County Ground, Northampton. Milly died on 8 April 1940 at Oundle. He died in Kettering on 17 December 1945 and was buried on 21 December 1945 at St Peters Church, Lilford cum Wigsthorpe, Northamptonshire. Their only child Thomas Atherton Powys died aged 13 during an operation for adenoids. The estates and title of Lord Lilford passed to Stephen Powys who was the godson of Thomas Powys, 4th Baron Lilford and adoptive brother of John Powys, 5th Baron Lilford.