collection P14 - Birr Castle Workmen's Daybook

Laurence Michael Harvey Parsons, 6th Earl of Rosse, Baron of Oxmantown, 9th Baronet of Birr Castle, was born 28 September 1906 to Lord William Edward Parsons, 5th Earl of Rosse, and Lady Francis Lois Lister-Kaye. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, where he was a member of the Railway Club. Laurence Parsons succeeded his father in 1918 as the 6th Earl of Rosse. On 19 September 1935, he married Lady Anne Messel, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Leonard Charles Rudolph Messel. Lady Anne Messel was previously married to Ronald Armstrong-Jones, and was the mother of Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, who in 1960 married the Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. The 6th Earl of Rosse died on 5 July 1979 and was succeeded by his son, Sir William Brendan Parsons.