Tara Browne (4 March 1945 – 18 December 1966) was a
London-based
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
socialite
A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...
and heir to the
Guinness fortune. His December 1966 death in a car crash was an inspiration for
the Beatles' song "
A Day in the Life".
Early life
Browne was the son of
Dominick Browne, 4th Baron Oranmore and Browne, 2nd Baron Mereworth (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 establish ...
peer
Peer may refer to:
Sociology
* Peer, an equal in age, education or social class; see Peer group
* Peer, a member of the peerage; related to the term "peer of the realm"
Computing
* Peer, one of several functional units in the same layer of a ne ...
and member of the
House of Lords who served in that house for 72 years, longer than any other peer up to that time, finally being evicted during
government reforms in 1999) and
Oonagh Guinness
Oonagh Guinness (22 February 1910 – 2 August 1995) was an Anglo-Irish socialite, society hostess and art collector, and the second wife of Dominick Browne, 4th Baron Oranmore and Browne.
Early life
She was born on 22 February 1910, the ...
, an heiress to the
Guinness fortune.
Browne was a member of
Swinging London
The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mu ...
's
counterculture of the 1960s
The counterculture of the 1960s was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon that developed throughout much of the Western world in the 1960s and has been ongoing to the present day. The aggregate movement gained momentum as the civil rights m ...
and had stood to inherit £1 million at age 25.
In August 1963, at age 18, he married Noreen "Nicky" MacSherry; the couple had two sons, Dorian and Julian.
For his 21st birthday, he threw a "lavish" party at
Luggala
Luggala (), also called Fancy Mountain () at , is the 230th-highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin scale. Being below , it does not rank on the Vandeleur-Lynam or Hewitt scales. Luggala is in the northeastern section of the Wicklow Mountain ...
, the Gothic Browne family seat in the
Wicklow Mountains
The Wicklow Mountains (, archaic: ''Cualu'') form the largest continuous upland area in the Republic of Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into the counties of Dublin, Wexford and Carlow ...
, where "two private jets flew the 200 or so guests to Ireland, including
John Paul Getty,
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...
,
Brian Jones
Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English multi-instrumentalist and singer best known as the founder, rhythm/lead guitarist, and original leader of the Rolling Stones. Initially a guitarist, he went on to prov ...
ndJones' then-girlfriend
Anita Pallenberg
Anita Pallenberg (6 April 1942 – 13 June 2017) was a German-Italian actress, artist, and model. A style icon and "It Girl" of the 1960s and 1970s, Pallenberg was credited as the muse of the Rolling Stones: she was the romantic partner of the ...
."
Browne induced his friend
Paul McCartney's first
LSD trip in 1966, at Browne's home in
Belgravia
Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a danger ...
.
His life was captured in
Paul Howard's biography ''I Read the News Today, Oh Boy'', published in 2016.
Death
On 17 December 1966, Browne was driving with his girlfriend,
model
A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure.
Models c ...
Suki Potier
Melanie Susan Potier (14 November 1947 – 23 June 1981), better known as Suki Potier, was an English model.
Early life
Potier was born in Surrey, England. Her father was Gilbert Potier, and her mother was Mary (nee Moore) Potier. Potier ha ...
, in his
Lotus Elan through
South Kensington at high speed (some reports suggesting in excess of 106 mph/170 km/h). He was under the influence of
alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
and other drugs at the time. Browne failed to see a traffic light and proceeded through the junction of
Redcliffe Square
Redcliffe Square is a town square located in the Brompton area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, southwest of central London, (postcode SW10). Redcliffe Square Gardens are located in the square. The development was part of the v ...
and
Redcliffe Gardens
Redcliffe Gardens is a primary road, the A3220 located in the Chelsea area of southwest central London, England (postcode SW10). It was a development dated from 1864 to 1878.
Redcliffe Gardens runs southeast through Redcliffe Square as par ...
, colliding with a parked
lorry. He died of his injuries the following day. Potier claimed that Browne swerved the car to absorb the impact of the crash to save her life.
Following his death, his estranged wife launched a public legal battle for custody of their two young children; Browne's mother also sought custody. A judge eventually ruled that the boys should live with their grandmother.
[
]
"A Day in the Life"
The death of Browne is captured in the song " A Day in the Life" by the Beatles, which was released on their 1967 album ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, ''Sgt. Pepper'' is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composi ...
''. In a 1980 interview with ''Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother.
K ...
'' magazine, John Lennon said, "I was reading the paper one day ..the Guinness heir who killed himself in a car. That was the main headline story. He died in London in a car crash."
References
External links
All Experts
(archived)
Beatles SongfactsI Read the News Today, Oh Boy - Paul Howard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Tara
1945 births
1966 deaths
Road incident deaths in London
Tara Browne
Tara Browne (4 March 1945 – 18 December 1966) was a London-based Irish socialite and heir to the Guinness fortune. His December 1966 death in a car crash was an inspiration for the Beatles' song " A Day in the Life".
Early life
Browne was ...
Younger sons of barons
The Beatles
Irish socialites
Irish expatriates in the United Kingdom
People from Dublin (city)