Standish Robert Gage Prendergast Vereker, 7th Viscount Gort, (12 February 1888 – 21 May 1975) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

peer,

connoisseur A connoisseur ( French traditional, pre-1835, spelling of , from Middle-French , then meaning 'to be acquainted with' or 'to know somebody/something') is a person who has a great deal of knowledge about the fine arts; who is a keen appreciator ...

and collector of fine art, antiques, and

objets d'art In art history, the French term Objet d’art describes an ornamental work of art, and the term Objets d’art describes a range of works of art, usually small and three-dimensional, made of high-quality materials, and a finely-rendered finish th ...

, whose seat was at

Hamsterley Hall Hamsterley Hall is an 18th-century English country house at Hamsterley, Rowlands Gill, County Durham, England. It is a Grade II* listed building. The estate at Hamsterley was given, in 1762, by Sir John Swinburne Bt to his younger brother Henry ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Durham This is a list of the High Sheriffs of County Durham, England. In most counties the High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. In the Palatinate of Durham the officeholder was appointed by and was accountable to the Bishop of D ...

in 1934. He was the brother of

John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort Field Marshal John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, (10 July 1886 – 31 March 1946) was a senior British Army officer. As a young officer during the First World War, he was decorated with the Victoria Cross for his acti ...

, and inherited that title on the death of Lord Gort without male issue in 1946. He was succeeded in turn by his cousin, Colin Vereker.

Early life

Gort was born in Sausthorpe,

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, and educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. After Cambridge, he travelled to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

in 1911 and established himself as a contractor and later a major real estate holder in the city.

Military service

Gort served in the British Army 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 ...

, with the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

. He was wounded three times in the war and earned a

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

. Gort married Bessy Surtees, daughter of Aubone Alfred Surtees, on 11 June 1921, in England, and returned briefly to Winnipeg to live with his bride after the war. The couple had no children. By 1923 they had settled in England but he maintained his links with Winnipeg, visiting often over the years to attend to affairs with his numerous real estate holdings, which included the Viscount Gort Hotel on

Portage Avenue Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

, and living in the city for extended periods. Gort became a staunch supporter of the arts in Winnipeg. Gort served under his brother

, in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He gained the rank of honorary colonel in 1948 in the service of the 464 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery. He was also invested as a Knight of the

Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of c ...

.Profile
thepeerage.com; accessed 19 April 2016.

Collections and Bunratty Castle

Gort bought

Bunratty Castle Bunratty Castle (, meaning "castle at the mouth of the Ratty") is a large 15th-century tower house in County Clare, Ireland. It is located in the centre of Bunratty village ( ga, Bun Ráite), by the N18 road between Limerick and Ennis, near Sha ...

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...

, Ireland in 1953. Encouraged by John Hunt he then set about refurbishing the castle with a large personal antique collection. He put a roof on the castle and generally saved it from

ruin Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

. It had not been lived in since the building of Bunratty House (now an attraction within the folk park). The castle later was run by

Shannon Development Shannon Development (legally the ''Shannon Free Airport Development Company Limited'' formerly known as SFADCO) was an important regional development body for the Shannon Region of Ireland. Its area in the lower River Shannon basin comprised al ...

. The castle is today a

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural b ...

, with an Irish Victorian-themed folk park which was created around it. It is the most complete and authentically restored and furnished castle in Ireland. The antiques with which Gort filled the castle remain, and visitors to the castle may view them in situ. Gort donated the castle to the public, along with its contents, and the castle and folk park are now run by

. In 1973, two years before his death, Gort and his wife donated a major collection of 18th and 19th-century paintings to the

Winnipeg Art Gallery The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) is an art museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Its permanent collection includes over 24,000 works from Canadian, Indigenous Canadian, and international artists. The museum also holds the world's largest collect ...

. Gort is commemorated at the castle by a plaque near the

portcullis A portcullis (from Old French ''porte coleice'', "sliding gate") is a heavy vertically-closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications, consisting of a latticed grille made of wood, metal, or a combination of the two, which slides down gr ...

, and by portraits of him and his wife in the castle. After his death in 1975, he was succeeded in the title by his first cousin, once removed Colin Vereker.

References

External links

Castles.ancientireland.org

Npg.org.uk

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gort, Standish Vereker, 7th Viscount 1888 births 1975 deaths Military personnel from Lincolnshire British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel of World War II Knights of the Order of St John Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Recipients of the Military Cross Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge People educated at Harrow School Deputy Lieutenants of Durham Royal Artillery officers High Sheriffs of Durham English people of Dutch descent English people of French descent Schuyler family Van Cortlandt family Place of death missing