Richard Walter John Hely-Hutchinson, 6th Earl of Donoughmore (2 March 1875 – 19 October 1948), styled Viscount Suirdale until 1900, was an Anglo-Irish peer and Conservative politician. He served as Under-Secretary of State for War under Arthur Balfour between 1903 and 1905.
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Background and education
Donoughmore was the son of John Hely-Hutchinson, 5th Earl of Donoughmore, and Frances Isabella Stephens, daughter of General William Frazer Stephens. He was educated at Eton. In November 1901 he was promoted to captain of the 3rd (Militia) Battalion, The Royal Irish Regiment, and the following January he resigned his commission.
Political career
Donoughmore succeeded his father in the earldom in 1900 and took his seat in the House of Lords. He served as Under-Secretary of State for War from 1903 to 1905 in the Unionist administration headed by Arthur Balfour. From 1911 he was Lord Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords. He was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1913, a post he held until his death. In 1916 he was part of the Mesopotamia Commission of Inquiry. He was made a Knight of the Order of St Patrick in 1916 and sworn of the Privy Council in 1918. In June 1920, he was one of three candidates for the post of Governor-General of Australia presented to the Australian prime minister Billy Hughes, along with Lord Forster and General Seely.