John Crichton, 4th Earl Erne

John Henry Crichton, 4th Earl Erne, (16 October 1839 – 2 December 1914), styled Viscount Crichton from 1842 to 1885, was an Anglo-Irish peer and Conservative politician.

Early life Erne was the eldest son of Selina Griselda, Countess Erne (née Beresford), and John Crichton, 3rd Earl Erne. His younger siblings included Col. Hon. Charles Frederick Crichton (who married Lady Madeline Taylour, eldest daughter of Thomas Taylour, 3rd Marquess of Headfort), Lt.-Col. Hon. Sir Henry George Louis Crichton, the aide de camp to King Edward VII, and Lady Louisa Anne Catherine Crichton.

He was made a Knight of the Order of St Patrick in 1889; and was appointed to the Privy Council of Ireland in the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902, being sworn in by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Earl Cadogan, at Dublin Castle on 11 August 1902.

Personal life On 28 December 1870, Lord Erne was married to Lady Florence Mary Cole, daughter of William Willoughby Cole, 3rd Earl of Enniskillen, and the former Jane Casamaijor (daughter of James Casamaijor). Together, they were the parents of:

Hon. Henry William Crichton (1872–1914), styled Viscount Crichton, who married Lady Mary Cavendish Grosvenor, a daughter of Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster and Hon. Katherine Cavendish (third daughter of the 2nd Baron Chesham). After his death in 1914, Lady Mary married Col. the Hon. Algernon Francis Stanley (a son of Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby). Only a month later, Lord Erne himself died on 2 December 1914, aged 75, and was succeeded in his titles by his seven-year-old grandson John, his eldest son having predeceased him.

Descendants His grandson, and heir, John Crichton, 5th Earl Erne, was also killed in action, with the 5th Earl's death occurring on 23 May 1940 during the Second World War.

He was a grandfather of Lady Mary Kathleen Crichton, Mistress of the Robes to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, who married James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Abercorn, in 1928.