Terence George Randall Skeffington-Smyth (31 May 1905 - 9 March 1936) was part of the

Bright Young Things __NOTOC__ The Bright Young Things, or Bright Young People, was a nickname given by the tabloid press to a group of Bohemianism, Bohemian young Aristocracy (class), aristocrats and socialites in 1920s London. They threw flamboyant costume party, f ...

and was a close friend of

Elvira Mullens Barney Elvira Enid Barney (née Mullens; ) was an English socialite and actress known professionally as Dolores Ashley. She was tried for the murder of her lover, Michael Scott Stephen, in 1932. The trial was widely reported by the British press. She wa ...

, main witness at her trial.

Biography

Terence George Randall Skeffington-Smyth was born on 31 May 1905, the son of Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Henry Julian Skeffington-Smyth and Violet Frances Monckton-Arundell, daughter of

George Monckton-Arundell, 7th Viscount Galway George Edmund Milnes Monckton-Arundell, 7th Viscount Galway, CB (18 November 1844 – 7 March 1931) was a British Conservative politician and courtier. Biography Galway was the son of George Monckton-Arundell, 6th Viscount Galway, and his wife a ...

and

Vere Gosling Vere Monckton-Arundell, Viscountess Galway (née Gosling; 1859 - 3 January 1921) was a British poet, writer, philanthropist, and woman of letters. In 1910, she co-founded an auxiliary hospital at her home, Serlby Hall, with her husband. She was i ...

. He had two brothers, Captain Noel Edward Vere Fitz-Patrick (b. 1908) and Denys Bryan (b. 1911). His father was the son of Randall Skeffington Smyth and the Hon. Gertrude Fitz-Patrick, daughter of the 1st Lord Castletown. At the death of

Bernard FitzPatrick, 2nd Baron Castletown Bernard Edward Barnaby FitzPatrick, 2nd Baron Castletown, KP, CMG, PC (I) (29 July 1848 – 29 May 1937) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Conservative Member of Parliament. Biography Life Castletown was the son of John FitzPatrick, 1st Baro ...

, Colonel Skeffington Smyth took the name and Arms of Fitz-Patrick by deed poll. Terence Skeffington-Smyth did not work and lived off a large inheritance from his mother, Violet Frances Monckton-Arundell. He divided his time between England and the French Riviera. While in London, he lived at 19 Orchard Street, near Selfridges, but often stayed also at the International Sports Club in Upper Grosvenor Street. He met his close friend

in August 1931; at the trial he said "I have seen quite a lot of Mrs. Barney since then. I know her very well indeed, she is a very good friend of mine." Skeffington-Smyth held a cocktail party on 26 June 1932, and most of the invitations to Barney's dinner party of 30 May were made that night, therefore this is the reason why most of guests at Barney's house seemed to be better acquaintanced with Skeffington-Smyth than Barney. Skeffington-Smythe was not at the dinner party since he was in Paris, and arriving at 7pm joined the group at The Blue Angel before going together to

Arthur Jeffress Arthur Tilden Jeffress (21 November 1905 – 21 September 1961) was an influential gallery owner, collector, and patron of the arts in post-World War II Britain. In the 1920s and 1930s he was conspicuous mostly as a rich playboy and socialite. ...

’ home. After Barney shot Michael Scott Stephen, she called Skeffington-Smyth. She asked him to come over as "something terrible has happened," but he said he could not go. On 19 December 1934 at St. Margaret's Church Westminster, Terence Skeffington-Smyth married Isobel McLean, the eldest daughter of Loudon McLean. He died during a world cruise on 9 March 1936. He was staying at the Broadway Mansions Hotel in Shanghai and ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was established ...

'' reported that he died after visiting an opium den. The Papers of the Monckton-Arundell Family, Viscounts Galway of Serlby Hall, Nottinghamshire, early 13th Century - 1958, at the Nottingham University Library, Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections, include a poem of Terence Skeffington Smyth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skeffington-Smyth, Terence 1905 births 1936 deaths English socialites