Sir Hugo Cunliffe-Owen, 1st Baronet (16 August 1870 – 14 December 1947) was an English industrialist.

Childhood

Cunliffe-Owen was born in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, the younger son of Sir Philip Cunliffe-Owen, director of the

South Kensington Museum South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

.H. T. Wood (rev. R. C. Denis)
Owen, Sir Francis Philip Cunliffe- (1828–1894)
''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2004. He was educated at

Brighton College Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...

and then

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

Career

Cunliffe-Owen articled as a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

with Sir John Wolfe-Barry. He first went into business in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. He became a director of the

British-American Tobacco Company British American Tobacco plc (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, England. As of 2019, it is the large ...

on its formation in 1902, later becoming vice-chairman, and chairman from 1923 until his retirement in 1945. For the last two years of his life, he was president of the company. He was chairman of

Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer of the World War II era. They were primarily a repair and overhaul shop, but also a construction shop for other companies' designs, notably the Supermarine Seafire. The company also unde ...

Ltd until his death in 1947. He was also associated with British and Foreign Aviation Ltd, a company with a nominal capital of £250,000. its stated objects were to acquire not less than 90 per cent of the issued share capital of

Olley Air Service Morton Air Services was one of the earliest post-World War II private, independentindependent from government-owned corporations British airlines formed in 1945. It mainly operated regional short-haul scheduled services within the British Isles and ...

Ltd and Air Commerce Ltd and to make agreements between Olley Air Service Ltd, Sir Hugo Cunliffe-Owen, and others to operate air services and aerodromes and manufacture, deal in, and repair aircraft. Associated companies included West Coast Air Services Ltd and

Isle of Man Air Services Isle of Man Air Services Ltd (IoMAS) was a small airline, based at Ronaldsway Airport Isle of Man, which operated scheduled flights to the English and Scottish mainland between formation in September 1937 and nationalisation in January 1947. H ...

. Cunliffe-Owen worked for the Ministry of Information during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and for this he was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in the 1920 New Year Honours.

Family and private life

Cunliffe-Owen lived at

Sunningdale Park Sunningdale Park is a country estate centred around a property known as Northcote House in Sunningdale, Berkshire. History The house is thought to have been built by James Wyatt, almost certainly for James William Steuart, a farmer, in around ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. He married Helen Elizabeth Oliver in 1918. They had two sons and two daughters. She died in 1934, and the following year Cunliffe-Owen remarried, to Mauricia Martha Shaw of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. They were legally separated in 1946. His eldest son, Sub-Lieutenant Hugo Leslie Cunliffe-Owen, was killed serving with the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

aboard the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

HMS ''Indomitable'' on 12 August 1942, aged 21. His second son, Dudley Herbert, succeeded him in the baronetcy and at Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft. Cunliffe-Owen was a prominent supporter of

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

horse racing. He won The Derby with his horse

Felstead Felsted (sometimes spelt Felstead) is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Bannister Green, Bartholomew Green, Causeway End, Coblers Green, Cock Green, Frenches Gre ...

in 1928, although the best horse he owned was probably the filly

Rockfel Rockfel (1935 – November 1941) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare, best known for winning two British Classic Races, Classics in 1938. In a career which lasted from July 1937 until May 1939 she ran thirteen times and won eight ...

Footnotes

References

*Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 18 December 1947 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cunliffe-Owen, Hugo 1870 births 1947 deaths People educated at Brighton College People educated at Clifton College Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom English businesspeople Businesspeople in the tobacco industry British racehorse owners and breeders Owners of Epsom Derby winners Chairmen of British American Tobacco People from Kensington English civil engineers Businesspeople in aviation