Captain Justinian Heathcote Edwards-Heathcote (17 June 1843 – 21 January 1928) was a British Conservative politician and soldier. A member of the Staffordshire gentry, he was the maternal grandfather of the fascist leader Oswald Mosley.[1]
Heathcote was eldest son of Rev. Edward James Justinian Edwards and his wife, the former Elizabeth Anne Heathcote.[2] His mother was the daughter and heiress of Richard Edensor Heathcote by his wife Lady Elizabeth Lindsay (daughter of the 6th Earl of Balcarres).[3] Born in Trentham, Staffordshire, where his father was the vicar, Heathcote was educated at Winchester College before receiving a commission in the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot. From 1875, he was a captain in the Staffordshire Yeomanry.
He was married to Eleanor Stone (1844–1927; daughter of Spencer Stone, Esq., of Callingwood Hall, near Burton upon Trent, who was painted by Val Prinsep), with whom he had three children.[4] On 5 March 1870, he succeeded to his uncle's estate and thus assumed by royal licence the surname of Heathcote.[5]
Heathcote stood unsuccessfully for the Conservative Party in North West Staffordshire at the 1885 general election, but won the seat in 1886.[6] He retired in 1892 to his estate of Apedale Hall, near Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire.[7]