Alexander Charles Robert "Alastair" Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 9th Marquess of Londonderry (7 September 1937 – 20 June 2012) was a British nobleman.

Biography

The son of

Robin Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 8th Marquess of Londonderry Edward Charles Stewart Robert Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 8th Marquess of Londonderry, (18 November 1902 – 17 October 1955), styled Lord Stewart until 1915 and Viscount Castlereagh between 1915 and 1946, was a British peer and politician. Early ...

(1902–1955) and his wife, the former Romaine Combe (died 1951), Alexander Charles Robert Vane-Tempest-Stewart was known as "Alastair". He was educated at

Ludgrove School Ludgrove School is an English independent boys preparatory boarding school. Ludgrove was founded in 1892 at Ludgrove Hall in Middlesex by the Old Etonian sportsman Arthur Dunn. Dunn had been employed as a master at Elstree School, which sent boys ...

. When the 8th Marquess died in 1955, Alastair became the 9th

Marquess A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

at age 18. He renovated the family estate,

Wynyard Park, County Durham Wynyard Park, sometimes known as Wynyard Hall, is a large English country house near Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham. The house was the English family seat of the Vane-Tempest-Stewart family, Marquesses of Londonderry, an Anglo-Irish aristocra ...

, which

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

described as "the most splendid 19th-century mansion house in the county". Wynyard was sold by Lord Londonderry in 1987 and is now owned by the property developer Sir John Hall. Lord Londonderry was an accomplished pianist, and a self-taught linguist. He was an authority on

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

, the Hungarian composer and virtuoso, and could read French, German, and Italian. His first wife, whom he married in 1958, was Nicolette Elaine Katherine, daughter of Michael Harrison, a stockbroker, and his Latvian-born wife. Nicolette, Lady Londonderry, gave birth to two daughters: Lady Sophia (b. 23 February 1959) and Lady Cosima (b. 25 December 1961, who married Lord John Robert Somerset, third son of

David Somerset, 11th Duke of Beaufort David Robert Somerset, 11th Duke of Beaufort GCC (23 February 1928 – 16 August 2017), known as David Somerset until 1984, was an English peer and major landowner. An important figure in the world of fox hunting, he was also chairman of Marl ...

). She also gave birth to a son, Tristan, who was once but is no longer styled Viscount Castlereagh, as Lord Londonderry later proved that Tristan was not his biological child, but that of the singer

Georgie Fame Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the on ...

. The Londonderrys divorced in 1971. Lady Cosima would later claim that her biological father was actually

Robin Douglas-Home Cecil Robin Douglas-Home (8 May 1932 – 15 October 1968) was a British aristocrat, jazz pianist and author. Life Robin Douglas-Home was the eldest son of the Honourable Henry Douglas-Home from his first marriage to Lady Margaret Spencer. His u ...

, nephew of

Sir Alec Douglas-Home Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel (; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), styled as Lord Dunglass between 1918 and 1951 and being The 14th Earl of Home from 1951 till 1963, was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conse ...

, the former Prime Minister. Nicolette married

in 1972; they later had another son, James. She committed suicide in 1993. Lord Londonderry's second wife was Doreen Patricia Wells, former principal dancer at the

Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

, whom he married in 1972; they divorced in 1989. They had two sons, Frederick Aubrey Vane-Tempest-Stewart (born 6 September 1972), and Lord Reginald Alexander Vane-Tempest-Stewart (b. 1977), who is married to Chloë Belinda Guinness (born 29 April 1976); the couple have a son and two daughters.

Death

The 9th Marquess of Londonderry died on 20 June 2012, aged 74. His elder son, Frederick Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, succeeded to his titles as the 10th Marquess.

Ancestry

References

External links

*
Alistair Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 9th Marquess of Londonderry
* http://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-alexander-charles-robert-vane-tempest-stewart-the-9th-marquess-of-londonderry-aristocrat-and-landowner-1-2388507 * http://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/328299/9th-Marquess-of-Londonderry-Aristocrat-September-7-1937-Died-June-20-2012-Aged-74.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Londonderry, Alistair Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 9th Marquess Of 1937 births 2012 deaths

Alistair Alistair is a masculine given name. It is an Anglicised form of the Scottish Gaelic '' Alasdair''. The latter is most likely a Scottish Gaelic variant of the Norman French Alexandre or Latin Alexander, which was incorporated into English in the s ...

Place of birth missing Place of death missing People from the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees 9 People educated at Ludgrove School