William Sackville, 10th Earl De La Warr

William Herbrand Sackville, 10th Earl De La Warr DL /ˈdɛləwɛər/ (16 October 1921 – 9 February 1988) was a British peer. He inherited the earldom on 28 January 1976 on the death of his father Herbrand Edward Dundonald Brassey Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr.[1]

William Herbrand Sackville, 10th Earl De La Warr
Full name William Herbrand Sackville
Detail Titles and styles 10th Earl De La Warr 16th Baron Delaware 5th Baron Buckhurst of Buckhurst 10th Viscount Cantelupe
Born	16 October 1921 (1921-10-16)
Died	9 February 1988 (1988-02-10) (aged 66) London, England
Noble family	De La Warr
Spouse(s)	Anne Rachel Devas
Issue William Herbrand Sackville Thomas Geoffrey Sackville Arabella Avice Diana Sackville
Father	Herbrand Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr
Mother	Diana Helena Leigh

Earl De La Warr was educated at Eton College, and fought in World War II, attaining the rank of Captain in the Parachute Regiment of the British Army.[1] After the war, on 18 May 1946, he married Anne Rachel Devas (grandniece of a former Prime Minister, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman). They had three children:[1]

• William Herbrand Sackville, 11th Earl De La Warr, born 10 April 1948
• Hon. Thomas Geoffrey Sackville, born 26 October 1950
• Lady Arabella Avice Diana Sackville, born 20 June 1958

In the autumn of 1987, the earl offered to sell Ashdown Forest, the real-life setting of the Winnie-the-Pooh stories, to the East Sussex County Council at a below-market price of £1.2 million for the 6,500 acre property.[2][3] As young children, the future earl and Christopher Robin Milne had played together there.[4][5] Milne himself joined conservationists to prevent the forest from being sold piecemeal to private owners, and to oppose an application by BP to drill for oil there.[3][6] The sale to the county council was concluded after the earl's death, making the forest public land.[3]

On 9 February 1988, at age 66, Earl De La Warr died after falling under a train at the St. James's Park station of the London Underground.[2][7] An inquest ruled the death to be a suicide, with a jury finding that the earl had been "anxious and upset over hurricane damage to his estate."[8]

References

1. Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. 1 (107th ed.). p. 1074. ISBN 978-0971196629. Cited in Lundy, Darryl Roger (ed.). "William Herbrand Sackville, 10th Earl De La Warr". The Peerage. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016.
2. "Earl dies in fall under train". The Herald. Glasgow. 11 February 1988. p. 7 – via Google News Archive.
3. United Press International (26 November 1988). Written at London. "Pooh's forest saved". Chicago Sun-Times. USA. UPI. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016 – via HighBeam Research.
4. Aalto, Kathryn (2015). The Natural World of Winnie-the-Pooh: A Walk Through the Forest that Inspired the Hundred Acre Wood. Timber Press. p. 232. ISBN 978-1604695991.
5. William, Earl De La Warr. "Welcome to Buckhurst Estate". Buckhurst Park. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
6. Associated Press (16 May 1988). Written at London. "Oil Yields to Honey in Pooh Bear's Home". Boston Globe. USA. AP. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016 – via HighBeam Research.
7. "Passings: William Herbrand Sackville, British Lord". Los Angeles Times. 11 February 1988.
8. "Anxious Earl dived under train". The Herald. Glasgow. 17 March 1988. p. 3 – via Google News Archive.

Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by Herbrand Edward Dundonald Brassey Sackville	Earl De La Warr 1976–1988	Succeeded by William Herbrand Sackville