Arms of Wyndham, Baron Leconfield and Egremont

John Edward Reginald Wyndham, 6th Baron Leconfield, 1st Baron Egremont

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(5 June 1920 – 6 June 1972) was a British peer, art collector and author.

Career

John Wyndham was the son of Edward Wyndham, 5th Baron Leconfield, and Gladys Mary Farquhar, and a direct descendant of

Sir John Wyndham ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

. He was educated at Eton College and the University of Cambridge. He served as Private Secretary to

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...

in various appointments that the latter held between 1940 and 1945, then again in 1955 when Macmillan was Foreign Secretary, and finally during his time as Prime Minister from 1957 to 1963. He was also a Trustee of the Wallace Collection between 1953 and 1972. In 1963, four years prior to succeeding his father as Baron Leconfield, he was raised to the peerage in his own right in Macmillan's

resignation honours The Prime Minister's Resignation Honours in the United Kingdom are Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, honours granted at the behest of an outgoing Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister following their resignation ...

as Baron Egremont of

Petworth Petworth is a small town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Chichester (district), Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 road, A272 east–west road from Heathfield, East Sussex ...

in the County of Sussex. This was a revival of the Egremont title held by his ancestors the earls of Egremont. He and his father took their seats in the House of Lords on the same day.

Marriage and children

Lord Leconfield and Egremont married his second cousin once removed, Pamela Wyndham-Quin (29 April 1925 – 4 November 2013), daughter of the Hon. Valentine Wyndham-Quin and great-granddaughter of the Hon. Blanche Julia Wyndham, (daughter of

George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield (5 June 1787 – 18 March 1869), was a British soldier and peer. A direct descendant of Sir John Wyndham, he was the eldest natural son of George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont, and Elizabeth Ilive. ...

), in 1947. They had two sons and a daughter, Carlyn. In 1952, he inherited significant property from his uncle,

Charles Wyndham, 3rd Baron Leconfield Charles Henry Wyndham, 3rd Baron Leconfield, (17 February 1872 – 16 April 1952) was a British peer, army officer and political figure. He succeeded his father as third Baron Leconfield in 1901. Ancestry Wyndham was born at the family estat ...

. He and his bride moved into the magnificent Petworth House in West Sussex. He died of cancer in June 1972, aged 52, and was succeeded in the baronies by his eldest son

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

. Macmillan wrote the entry on him for the ''

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 ...

'' and dedicated his ''War Diaries'' (1984) to him. Lord Egremont himself wrote an engaging autobiography, ''Wyndham and Children First'' (Macmillan, London, 1968) which covers his service with Macmillan in North Africa during the Second World War.

Notes

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, Thorpe, D.R. ''Supermac: the life of Harold Macmillan'' (2010), p. 687 n. 15. {{DEFAULTSORT:Egremont, John Edward Reginald Wyndham, 1st Baron 1920 births 1972 deaths Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Eton College John Hereditary barons created by Elizabeth II