Nicholas Preston, 17th Viscount Gormanston
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(Jenico) Nicholas Dudley Preston, 17th Viscount Gormanston (born 19 November 1939), is a British hereditary peer who sat (as Baron Gormanston) in the
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
until
1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
. An Anglo-Irish aristocrat, Lord Gormanston is the premier viscount in the
Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...
(created 1478).


Family background

The only son and heir of Lieutenant the 16th Viscount Gormanston (1914–1940) and Pamela Hanly, daughter of Captain Edward Hanly and Lady Marjorie Feilding (daughter of the 9th Earl of Denbigh), he succeeded to the family titles before his first birthday; the 16th Viscount (Lieutenant Jenico William Preston, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry) was killed in action at Dunkirk during the Battle of France, 1940. His maternal great-grandfather was General Sir William Butler, of Bansha Castle,
County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after t ...
, and his great-grandmother was the celebrated Victorian painter, Elizabeth Thompson (later Lady Butler). The 14th Viscount Gormanston was his paternal great-grandfather. A
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
like his forebears, Lord Gormanston attended the
Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...
school at Downside,
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
. He is a connoisseur of art and lives in Kensington, London.


Gormanston Castle

The ancestral seat,
Gormanston Castle Franciscan College Gormanston is a school operated and managed by the Irish province of the Order of the Friars Minor. The college operates under the trusteeship of the Minister Provincial and Definitory of the Franciscan Province of Ireland. ...
in
County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the ...
, Ireland, is no longer in the family's possession. The castle is fully maintained by the
Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...
Order of Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (also called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the teachi ...
(OFM), bought in 1947. Shortly after its purchase, the order opened a boarding school for boys, Gormanston College, in the adjacent grounds; the college has since become a coeducational day school.


Personal life

Viscount Gormanston married his first wife Eva-Antonie Landzwójczak (1955–1984) in 1974. The marriage produced two sons: *
Hon. ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style (ma ...
Jenico Francis Tara Preston, born 1974,
heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
; commercial director,
Toye, Kenning & Spencer Toye, Kenning & Spencer is a British jewellery and clothing manufacturer based at Bedworth, Warwickshire; the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham; and Covent Garden, London. Founded in 1685, the company still retains Toye family members. The firm ...
, married 2015 Kelly Reade (born 1978), descended via her mother from the Marquises of Chaves, and by whom has one son; * Hon. William Luke Preston, born in 1976. Viscount Gormanston married, secondly, Lucy Arabella Fox (born 1960) in November 1997. She is the only daughter of the actor Edward Fox and his first wife, the actress Tracy Reed (''qv.'', a daughter of Penelope Dudley-Ward and
Anthony Pelissier Harry Anthony Compton Pelissier (27 July 1912 – 2 April 1988) was an English actor, screenwriter, producer and director. Biography Pelissier was born in Barnet and came from a theatrical family. His parents were the theatre producer H. G. ...
).www.thepeerage.com
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See also

*
Viscount Gormanston Viscount Gormanston is a title in the Peerage of Ireland created in 1478 and held by the head of the Preston family, which hailed from Lancashire. It is the oldest vicomital title in the British Isles; the holder is Premier Viscount of Ireland. ...


References


External links

*
www.hereditarypeers.comwww.debretts.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gormanston, Jenico Preston, 17th Viscount 1939 births Living people People from Kensington People educated at Downside School Robin Fox family 20th-century Anglo-Irish people British Roman Catholics Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Preston family