Photograph of Canon Maurice St.John c1900

Reverend Canon Maurice William Ferdinand St.John (1827-1914)

In 1865 Canon St.John, grandson of George Richard 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke and his second wife Isabella (Von Hompesch) became the heir presumptive of the Lydiard estate and family titles.

On the death of Henry 5th Viscount Bolingbroke in 1899 the Canon fully expected to become the next Lord of the Manor and succeed to the Lydiard estate, albeit debt ridden and dilapidated. However, on the day of the 5th Viscount's funeral Maurice's expectations were stunningly disappointed. The deceased viscount was discovered to have had a wife and a three year old legitimate son, Vernon Henry St.John, who succeeded his father as 6th Viscount Bolingbroke.