Frederick Fermor-Hesketh, 2nd Baron Hesketh DL (8 April 1916 – 10 June 1955), was a British peer and soldier.

Background and education

Hesketh was the son of Thomas Fermor-Hesketh, 1st Baron Hesketh, and Florence Louise Breckinridge, of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, daughter of

John Witherspoon Breckinridge John Witherspoon "Owen" Breckinridge (December 22, 1850 – May 9, 1892) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the California State Assembly. Early life Breckinridge was born on December 22, 1850, in Lexington, Kentucky, in the prom ...

, and granddaughter of General (CSA)

John C. Breckinridge John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was an American politician who served as the 14th vice president of the United States, with President James Buchanan, from 1857 to 1861. Assuming office at the age of 36, Breckinrid ...

, Vice-President of the United States of America and Secretary of War for the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

, in 1909. He was educated from 1926 at Eton and later

Magdalene College Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

.The Peerage website
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Military service

Hesketh was a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642 in the Ki ...

. He succeeded in the barony on the death of his father on 20 July 1944. In 1950 he became a Deputy Lieutenant of

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

Family life

On 22 November 1949 he married

Christian Mary McEwen Christian Mary McEwen, Lady Hesketh, Order of the British Empire, OBE, Deputy Lieutenant, DL (17 July 1929 – 7 April 2006) was a British politician, journalist and educationist. Early years She was born on 17 July 1929 at Marchmont House in ...

(known as Christian Lady Hesketh) (17 July 1929 – 7 April 2006),"The Dowager Lady Hesketh" ''The Daily Telegraph'', 12 April 2006, accessed 14 April 2011
/ref> daughter of Captain Sir John Helias Finnie McEwen and had three children: * Thomas Alexander (known as Alexander), 3rd Baron Hesketh (b. 28 October 1950) * Robert (1 November 1951 – 2 Feb 1997, car accident) * John (15 March 1953 – 2 November 2008Johnny Hesketh obituary in ''The Daily Telegraph''
/ref>) Hesketh was a collector of top-end books in the early 1950s. The trustees of his will sold some of his books, manuscripts and letters in 2010 at

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

. The four volumes of

John James Audubon John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin, April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was a French-American Autodidacticism, self-trained artist, natural history, naturalist, and ornithology, ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornitho ...

's '' Birds of America'' were bought by renowned London book dealer Michael Tollemache for a record £7,321,250.

Arms

References

External links