Henry Milles-Lade, 5th Earl Sondes
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Henry George Herbert Milles-Lade, 5th Earl Sondes (1 May 1940 – 2 December 1996), styled Viscount Throwley between 1941 and 1970, was a British peer. He inherited the title upon the death of his father in 1970 and the peerage became extinct when he died without an heir.


Personal life

The fifth earl was considered a colourful character. As a child, he was a page at the wedding of his aunt and uncle, Nadine McDougall and Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia. In his pre-teen years he was a page at the coronation of Queen
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
but was later expelled from
Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
for operating gambling books. He owned racehorses and greyhounds, but his strongest connection with sport was with the
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club, Gillingham F.C., where he served as vice-chairman of the board of directors.''Evening Standard'' article
of 7 July 2006 a
findarticles.com
/ref> Upon his retirement from the role, a large clock was erected at the club's
Priestfield Stadium Priestfield Stadium (popularly known simply as Priestfield and officially known from 2007 to 2010 as KRBS Priestfield Stadium and from 2011 to 2023 and again from 2024 as MEMS Priestfield Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a football stadium i ...
and dubbed the "Lord Sondes Clock" in his honour. The clock was removed as part of ground redevelopment work in the 1990s and its subsequent whereabouts are unknown. The Earl was married four times. His wives included the New York socialite Sharon McCluskey (daughter of Ellen Lehman McCluskey of the
Lehman family The Lehman family (also Lehmann, Liehmann or Liehman) is a prominent family of Jewish German-Americans who founded the financial firm Lehman Brothers. Some were also involved in American politics. Members have married into the prominent Morgen ...
), whom he married in 1981 and divorced in 1984, and another American whom he married in 1986, Phyllis Kane Schmertz (widow of
Robert Schmertz Robert Schmertz (November 15, 1926 – July 24, 1975) was an American real estate developer and sports franchise owner. He was owner or part-owner of two NBA franchises; the Portland Trail Blazers from 1970 through 1972, and the Boston Celtics ...
, owner of the
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...
), who survived him and inherited
Lees Court Sheldwich is a village and civil parish in the far south of the Borough of Borough of Swale, Swale in Kent, England. Geography Sheldwich is a rural parish situated south of the market town of Faversham, north of Ashford, Kent, Ashford and 12 m ...
in Kent, which she transformed into an agricultural business growing pharmaceutical and biofuel crops. The Earl died from cancer, and was buried in the church in the village of
Sheldwich Sheldwich is a village and civil parish in the far south of the Borough of Swale in Kent, England. Geography Sheldwich is a rural parish situated south of the market town of Faversham, north of Ashford and 12 miles west of Canterbury via the ...
south of
Faversham Faversham () is a market town in Kent, England, from Sittingbourne, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2 road (Great ...
in
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
.Sheldwich Village Church website


Lees Court estate

The Sondes family estate in Kent had been in family hands for over 700 years and once stretched to over in the early 1900s. The estate at Earl Sondes' death was including a core of around the villages of Sheldwich and Badlesmere with the balance at the Swale Estuary, Oare and Faversham Creeks.


Marriages

# 1968 (divorced 1969) Primrose Ann Cresswell (former wife of Richard Hugh Nicholas Cresswell), daughter of Laurence Stopford Llewellyn Cotter (1912–1943) younger son of Sir James Laurence Cotter, 5th Baronet. # 1976 (divorced 1981) Countess Silvia-Gabrielle zu Salm-Reifferscheidt-Raitz (widow of Hugo, Altgraf zu Salm-Reifferscheidt-Raitz), daughter of Hans Otto Schied. # 1981 (divorced 1984) Sharon McCluskey daughter of Ellen Lehman McCluskey of the
Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...
banking family. # 1986 Phyllis Kane Schmertz. Right Honourable Countess Sondes.


Title from birth

* The Honourable Henry George Herbert Milles-Lade (1 May 1940 – 17 January 1941) * Viscount Throwley (17 January 1941 – 30 April 1970) * The Right Honourable The Earl Sondes (30 April 1970 – 2 December 1996)


Family titles

There were no heirs to his titles and on Right Honourable Henry George Herbert 5th Earl Sonde's death on 2 December 1996 the titles became extinct. * Earl Sondes of Lees Court, County of Kent, created letters patent 4 May 1880 – extinct 2 December 1996 * Viscount Throwley of Throwley, County of Kent, created letters patent 4 May 1880 – extinct 2 December 1996 * Baron Sondes of Lees Court, County of Kent, created letters patent 20 May 1760 – extinct 2 December 1996


Arms


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sondes, Henry Milles-Lade, 5th Earl 1940 births 1996 deaths People from the Borough of Swale People educated at Eton College British socialites Gillingham F.C. directors and chairmen 20th-century British farmers Deaths from cancer Henry Milles-Lade, 5th Earl Sondes
Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...
Burials in Kent