William Leveson-Gower, 4th Earl Granville

Vice Admiral William Spencer Leveson-Gower, 4th Earl Granville KG, GCVO, CB, DSO (11 July 1880 – 25 June 1953), styled The Honourable William Leveson-Gower until 1939, was a British naval commander and governor.

Background
Leveson-Gower was the younger son of Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, by his second wife Castila Rosalind Campbell.

Career
After Wixenford School, William Leveson-Gower joined the Royal Navy in 1894. He was promoted to Sub Lieutenant in 1900, Lieutenant in 1902 and Commander in 1913. He served in First World War and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1919.

He was appointed Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, The Nore in 1924, aide-de-camp to the King in 1929 and Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland in 1931. He was made a Companion of the Bath in 1930 and retired in 1935.

Leveson-Gower became Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man in 1937. In 1939 he succeeded his elder brother in the earldom. Granville was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in 1945 and became Governor of Northern Ireland in 1945, serving until 1952. He was made a Knight of the Garter that same year.

Family
In 1916, Lord Granville married Lady Rose Constance Bowes-Lyon, the second surviving daughter of the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and elder sister of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. They had two children, Mary Cecilia, Lady Clayton (b. 12 December 1917) and Granville James Leveson-Gower, 5th Earl Granville (6 December 1918 – 31 October 1996). Lord Granville died in June 1953, aged 72. He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium. The Countess Granville died in 1967.