Oliver Sylvain Baliol Brett, 3rd Viscount Esher, (23 March 1881 – 8 October 1963) was a British peer and politician.
Early life
Brett was the elder son of the
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
courtier and politician
Reginald Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher
Reginald Baliol Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher, (30 June 1852 – 22 January 1930) was an historian and Liberal politician in the United Kingdom, although his greatest influence over military and foreign affairs was as a courtier, member of public c ...
, the
Governor of Windsor Castle, and Eleanor Van de Weyer, daughter of Belgian ambassador
Sylvain Van de Weyer and grand-daughter of Anglo-American financier
Joshua Bates.
His siblings included Maurice Vyner Baliol Brett,
who married the famous musical theatre actress
Zena Dare
Zena Dare (born Florence Hariette Zena Dones; 4 February 1887 – 11 March 1975) was an English singer and actress who was famous for her performances in Edwardian musical comedy and other musical theatre and comedic plays in the first half of ...
;
Dorothy
Dorothy may refer to:
*Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name.
Arts and entertainment
Characters
*Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum
* Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character playe ...
, who was a painter and member of the
Bloomsbury Group;
and
Sylvia, who became the last Ranee of
Sarawak
Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...
on 24 May 1917, following the proclamation of her husband
Charles Vyner Brooke as
Raja
''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...
h.
He was educated at
Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England.
Eton may also refer to:
Places
*Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England
* Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States
* Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...
. Brett was a friend of his eventual wife's brother,
G. Maurice Heckscher.
Career
He was an unpaid private secretary to
Lord Morley, the
Secretary of State for India
His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...
, from 1905 to 1910. In the
January and
December
December is the twelfth and final month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the last of seven months to have a length of 31 days.
December got its name from the Latin word ''decem'' (meaning ten) because it was or ...
1910 elections he unsuccessfully stood for
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...
as a Liberal. In 1914, he joined the
1/16th (County of London) Battalion (Queen's Westminster Rifles), and was attached to the
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
. For his wartime service he was appointed a Member of the
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(Military Division) in 1918.
He succeeded his father, who was a close personal friend of King
Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...
and King
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...
, as
Viscount Esher
Viscount Esher, of Esher in the County of Surrey, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 11 November 1897 for the prominent lawyer and judge William Brett, 1st Baron Esher, upon his retirement as Master of the Rolls ...
in 1930.
Esher was chairman of the general purposes committee of the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
for 25 years, and of its historical buildings committee from its inception in 1934.
He was also involved with many cultural and artistic charities, including the
Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings
The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) (also known as Anti-Scrape) is an amenity society founded by William Morris, Philip Webb, and others in 1877 to oppose the destructive 'restoration' of ancient buildings occurring in ...
, the
London Museum, the
Historic Churches Trust, and the
Old Vic
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
*Old, Northamptonshire, England
* Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...
. He was also a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Literature and an honorary Fellow of the
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...
.
In 1955, he was promoted a
Knight Grand Cross of The Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
"for services to the Arts".
Personal life
In September 1912, Brett sailed to New York aboard the
RMS ''Campania'' in advance of his wedding. While talking to a ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reporter, he said that he "knew nothing about the wedding arrangements except the date, and did not even know who was to be the best man. None of his friends, so far as he knew, was going over to the wedding, as the distance was too far. It was suggested that in these days of fast liners the distance was short. He answered: 'It is to English people.' He smilingly denied that the absence of friends from the station implied family opposition to the marriage, and added: 'Why should there be?'".
On 1 October 1912, the then Hon. Oliver Brett was married to the American-born Antoinette Heckscher (1884–1967) at
Wincoma, the country home of her parents in
Huntington on
Long Island in New York.
Antoinette was the daughter of German-born
August Heckscher
August Heckscher (August 26, 1848 – April 26, 1941) was a German-born American capitalist and philanthropist.
Early life
Heckscher was born in Hamburg, Germany. He was the son of Johann Gustav Heckscher (1797–1865) and Marie Antoinette Br ...
, who made his fortune in
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
mining with the
New Jersey Zinc Company
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
before entering the New York real estate business.
Her paternal grandparents were
Johann Gustav Heckscher
Johann Gustav Wilhelm Moritz Heckscher (born 26 December 1797 in Hamburg; died 7 April 1865 in Vienna) was a German politician.
Biography
He served during the War of 1815 as a volunteer in the Hanseatic Corps, and then studied at the universiti ...
, a German politician who was the Minister of Justice in the
provisional German government headed by
Archduke John of Austria, and Marie Antoinette (née Brautigan) Heckscher.
After their marriage, the couple first made their home at Orchard Lea,
Windsor Forest
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
*Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
** Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
,
until acquiring the
Watlington Park country house in the Chilterns in 1920.
Together, Esher and Antoinette were the parents of:
*
Lionel Brett, 4th Viscount Esher
Lionel Gordon Baliol Brett, 4th Viscount Esher, 4th Baron Esher CBE (18 July 1913 – 9 July 2004) was a British peer, architect and town-planner. He succeeded to his title on the death of his father in 1963.
Early life
Brett was born in Winds ...
(1913–2004), a former president of the
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...
.
* Hon. Virginia Anne Charlotte Brett (1916–1990)
* Hon. Nancy Mildred Gladys Brett (1918–1999), who married
Sir Evelyn Shuckburgh, the
British Ambassador to Italy.
* Hon. Priscilla Leónie Helen Brett (1921–2000), who became Lady Beckett upon her marriage to
Sir Martyn Gervase Beckett, 2nd Bt.
Lord Esher died on 8 October 1963 at which time he was succeeded in his titles by his son,
Lionel. His widow died less than two years later, on 22 July 1965.
Arms
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esher, Oliver Sylvain, 5th Viscount
1881 births
1963 deaths
People educated at Eton College
Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire
Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects
Queen's Westminsters officers
British Army personnel of World War I
Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates
Military personnel from Berkshire
Historical preservationists