Arthur Meade, 5th Earl of Clanwilliam

Arthur Vesey Meade, 5th Earl of Clanwilliam MC (14 January 1873 – 23 January 1953), army officer, politician.

Arthur Meade was the second, but eldest surviving, son of Admiral of the Fleet Richard Meade, 4th Earl of Clanwilliam, GCB KCMG and Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Arthur Kennedy GCMG CB, governor of various colonies including Queensland, Hong Kong and Vancouver Island.

He was educated at Eton and joined the Royal Horse Guards, becoming a captain in 1900. In the following year he was seconded to serve with the 30th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry, in the South African war, as major and second-in-command. He was mentioned in dispatches, and was severely wounded, after which he served as Assistant Provost Marshal and Staff Captain. After a short time in India as an extra ADC to the viceroy, Lord Curzon, he returned to England in 1904 and served as adjutant of the Royal Horse Guards until 1907, retiring and becoming a captain on the Reserve of Officers on his marriage in 1909. Since the death of his brother in 1905 he had borne the title of Lord Gillford and two years later, on the death of his father, he became the fifth Earl of Clanwilliam.

After his retirement he divided his time between his property in Ireland (Montalto, Ballynahinch, co. Down) and London. When war broke out in 1914 he returned to the Army and served in France with his regiment from 1915 to 1919 with distinction, being mentioned in dispatches and gaining the Military Cross. On returning to London he succeeded Lord Kintore as chairman of the Carlton Club.

During the 1939–45 war he was for some time an unpaid assistant Whip in the House of Lords with a seat on the Front Bench. Although not a very frequent speaker in the Upper Chamber, he was a valuable member of committees, both as chairman and member.

Clanwilliam died on 23 January 1953 at his home in Bagshot, Surrey.

He married in 1909 Muriel, daughter of the late Russell Stephenson and widow of the Hon. Oliver Howard. She died in June 1952. There were one son and two daughters of the marriage, and the title devolved upon the son, Major John Meade, Lord Gillford, (1914–1989).