Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 2nd Earl of Ancaster

Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 2nd Earl of Ancaster (29 July 1867 – 19 September 1951), known as Lord Willoughby de Eresby from 1892 to 1910, was a British Conservative politician.

Early life Ancaster was born in London on 29 July 1867. He was the eldest son of Gilbert Henry Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 1st Earl of Ancaster, and Lady Evelyn Elizabeth Gordon, daughter of Charles Gordon, 10th Marquess of Huntly.

He was educated at Lambrook Preparatory School and at Eton, where he was editor of the Eton College Chronicle and president of the Eton Society. He then attended Trinity College, Cambridge.

Career In 1894, he was elected to Parliament for the Horncastle Division of Lincolnshire, a seat he held until shortly after the December 1910 general election, when he succeeded his father as second Earl of Ancaster and entered the House of Lords. Ancaster later held office as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries under David Lloyd George from 1921 to 1922 and under Bonar Law and Stanley Baldwin from 1922 to 1924. rising to Lieutenant-Colonel.

Personal life In 1905, Lord Aveland married American heiress Eloise Lawrence Breese (1882–1953), daughter of William Lawrence Breese of New York, at St Margaret's, Westminster. Her sister Anne married Lord Alastair Robert Innes-Ker, the second son of James Innes-Ker, 7th Duke of Roxburghe. Lord Alastair's brother, Henry Innes-Ker, 8th Duke of Roxburghe, also married an American, Mary Goelet. Eloise and Anne's brother, William L. Breese Jr., was married to Julia Kean Fish, daughter of U.S. Representative Hamilton Fish II. Together, Eloise and Gilbert were the parents of two sons and two daughters: Lady Priscilla Heathcote-Drumond-Willoughby (1909–2002), who married Col. Sir John Aird, 3rd Baronet (parents of Sir John Aird, 4th Baronet).

He died on 19 September 1951, aged 84, and was succeeded in his titles by his only surviving son, Gilbert James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby.