James Walter Grimston, 4th Earl of Verulam (17 April 1880 – 29 November 1949) was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 peer, electrical engineer and businessman, sometimes identified with the fringes of the intelligence service.

Verulam was the son of James Grimston, 3rd Earl of Verulam

James Grimston, 3rd Earl of Verulam

James Walter Grimston, 3rd Earl of Verulam , known as Viscount Grimston from 1852 to 1895, was a British Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1892. He inherited his peerage in 1895.Grimston was the eldest son of James Walter Grimston, 2nd Earl of Verulam, and...

, and Margaret Frances Graham. He married Lady Violet Constance Maitland Brabazon (1886–1936), younger daughter of Reginald Brabazon, 12th Earl of Meath

Reginald Brabazon, 12th Earl of Meath

Reginald Brabazon, 12th Earl of Meath KP GCVO GBE PC was a British politician and philanthropist.The Honourable Reginald Brabazon was born in London, second son of Lord Brabazon. When his father succeeded as 11th Earl of Meath in 1851, Reginald, now heir , was styled Lord Brabazon...

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He founded Enfield Cables Ltd

Enfield Cables Ltd

Enfield Cables Ltd was a British manufacturer of electric cables.The company was founded in 1913 by James Grimston as the Enfield Electric Cable Manufacturing Co Ltd, located on the River Lea in Enfield Lock. In 1959, as Enfield Cables Ltd, it was acquired by Enfield Rolling Mills Ltd and a new...

 and had many business interests in oil

Oil

An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

 and telecommunications, including as a director of British Thomson-Houston

British Thomson-Houston

British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...

. He reputedly allowed MI6 the use of some of the premises on his estate and was a business associate and personal friend of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 internee

Internment

Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...

 Robert Liversidge

Robert Liversidge

Robert William Liversidge , formerly Jacob Perlsweig, was a British Jewish businessman, whose activities sometimes attracted the attention of the police and intelligence services, a reputed spy, and subject of a cause célèbre as an internee in World War II Britain.-Early life:Liversidge's parents,...

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