Earl of Ypres was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Peerage of the United Kingdom

The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...

. It was created in 1922 for Field Marshal

Field Marshal

Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...

 John French, 1st Viscount French

John French, 1st Earl of Ypres

Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, KP, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCMG, ADC, PC , known as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a British and Anglo-Irish officer...

. He was Chief of the Imperial General Staff from 1912 to 1914, Commander of the British Expeditionary Force in the First World War from 1914 to 1915 and Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland from 1919 to 1922. French had already been created Viscount French, of Ypres and of High Lake in the County of Roscommon, in 1916. This title was also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. He was succeeded by his son, the second Earl. He was a Captain in the Royal Artillery

Royal Artillery

The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...

 as well as a talented artist. On his death the titles passed to his son, the third Earl. He fought in the Second World War as a Captain in the King's Royal Rifle Corps

King's Royal Rifle Corps

The King's Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire...

. Lord Ypres had four daughters but no sons and on his death in 1988 his titles became extinct. His youngest daughter, Lady Lucy French, became a prominent journalist and has done extensive work for charity and fundraising for the arts; most notably for Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, in the City of Westminster, London, is a permanent venue with an annual sixteen-week summer season. It was founded in 1932 by Sydney Carroll and Robert Atkins.-The theatre:...

.

The suffragette and writer Charlotte Despard

Charlotte Despard

Charlotte Despard was a British-born, later Irish-based suffragist, novelist and Sinn Féin activist....

 was the elder sister of the first Earl.

Earls of Ypres (1922)

• John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres
  John French, 1st Earl of Ypres
  Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, KP, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCMG, ADC, PC , known as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a British and Anglo-Irish officer...
  
   (1852–1925)
• John Richard Lowndes French, 2nd Earl of Ypres
  John French, 2nd Earl of Ypres
  John Richard Lowndes French, 2nd Earl of Ypres was the son of the British field marshal and the first commander of the British Expeditionary Force in World War I Sir John French....
  
   (1881–1958)
• John Richard Charles Lambart French, 3rd Earl of Ypres (1921–1988)