Otho Prior-Palmer

Brigadier Sir Otho Leslie Prior-Palmer, DSO (28 October 1897 – 29 January 1986) was an Anglo-Irish British Army officer and Conservative Party politician. He served for nearly twenty years as a Member of Parliament for Worthing. His main contributions were on the subject of defence, on which he was sometimes roused to outspoken criticism of the opposition Labour Party. Early career Prior-Palmer was born in Dublin, Ireland, where his father, Spunner Prior-Palmer, was a landowner in County Sligo. He was sent to Wellington College for his schooling, and joined the British Army immediately on leaving school. In 1916 he was commissioned into the 9th Lancers. He trained at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Later his younger brother George Erroll Prior-Palmer followed him through Wellington and Sandhurst into the same regiment. Recreations and family During the inter-war period, Prior-Palmer took an interest in equestrianism while continuing in service with the Lancers. He owned a stud which bred horses for the Warwickshire Hounds, although he sometimes had to sell up when his leave was cancelled and he was posted abroad. He also enjoyed sailing in the late 1920s, and was a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron. In July 1926 Prior-Palmer married Hon. Barbara Frankland. His interest in horses was also manifest in horse racing: he was at first a jockey. In the Sandown Park Grand Military Gold Cup of 1932, he rode "Master of Orange" and led in the early stages, before coming in second at the finish. Later he was an active trainer of race horses.