Richard Long, 4th Viscount Long explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Viscount Long
Office3:Lord-in-waiting
Government Whip
Primeminister3:Margaret Thatcher
John Major
Term Start3:9 May 1979
Term End3:2 May 1997
Predecessor3:The Lord Leonard
Successor3:The Lord Whitty
Office4:Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Term Start4:12 January 1967
Term End4:11 November 1999
Hereditary Peerage
Predecessor4:The 3rd Viscount Long
Successor4:Seat abolished
Birth Date:30 January 1929
Birth Place:London, England
Party:Conservative

Richard Gerard Long, 4th Viscount Long, (30 January 1929 – 13 June 2017) was a British peer and Conservative politician.

Life and career

Born in London, the second son of Richard Long, 3rd Viscount Long, he was educated at Harrow and served with the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Wiltshire Regiment from 1947 to 1949. His elder brother, Walter Reginald Basil, had died in Greece in 1941 during World War II and Long succeeded to his father's title in 1967.

In 1974, he entered politics as an Opposition Whip and was then a Lord-in-waiting (senior Government whip) from 1979 to 1997.

Long was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1993 New Year Honours.

Marriages and family

Viscount Long lived for many years at Steeple Ashton Manor, and later at The Island, Newquay, Cornwall, a house on a rock linked to the mainland by a private suspension bridge.

He was married three times and had three children by his first wife, Margaret (1928–2016).[1]

He died on 13 June 2017, at the age of 88.[3] His funeral service was held at St Mary's Church, Steeple Ashton, on 29 June 2017. He was succeeded by his son James as 5th Viscount Long.

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. News: Margaret, Viscountess Long – obituary. 6 May 2016. The Daily Telegraph.
  2. Web site: Lundy. Darryl. Hon. Charlotte Helen Long. thePeerage.com. 24 September 2015.
  3. Web site: LONG - Deaths Announcements. 20 June 2017. Telegraph Announcements. 2020-03-09.