Viscount Soulbury

Viscount Soulbury, of Soulbury in the County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1954 for the Conservative politician the Herwald Ramsbotham, 1st Baron Soulbury at the end of his term as Governor-General of Ceylon. He had already been created Baron Soulbury, of Soulbury in the County of Buckingham, in 1941, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. As of 2010 the titles are held by his grandson, the fourth Viscount, who succeeded in 2010.

Viscounts Soulbury (1954)

• Herwald Ramsbotham, 1st Viscount Soulbury (1887–1971)
• James Herwald Ramsbotham, 2nd Viscount Soulbury (1915–2004).

He lived in Ceylon/Sri Lanka from the late 1950s, where his father had been Governor-General, as a Hindu yogi under the name of Santhaswami. Although he ran the at the Sivathondan Nilayam at Chenkalady in Batticaloa he also used to spend a good deal of his time amongst the Veddas, aboriginal tribal peoples. He would go off for long periods of time to their strongholds deep in the jungles and forrests. Inevitably, one newspaper or another would "scoop" the story of his death. He would subsequently emerge again from one of these forays, wondering what all the fuss was about.

• Peter Edward Ramsbotham, 3rd Viscount Soulbury, GCMG, GCVO (1919–2010). He did not use the title.
• Oliver Peter Ramsbotham, 4th Viscount Soulbury (b. 1943). He does not use the title.

The heir apparent is the present holder's son, the Hon. (Edward) Herwald Ramsbotham (b. 1966).

References

• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages