sentences:  The eldest son of Allen Bathurst, Lord Apsley, and his wife Violet (née Meeking), he was educated at Eton College, Ridley College, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, and Christ Church, Oxford.His father having been killed in 1942 while on active duty during World War II, Bathurst succeeded to the family titles on the death of his grandfather, the 7th Earl Bathurst, in 1943.He joined the military in 1948, when he was appointed a Governor of the Royal Agricultural College.