(Geoffrey) Lionel Berry, 2nd Viscount Kemsley (29 June 1909 – 28 February 1999), was a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician,

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of April 2025, there are 800 hereditary peers: 30 dukes (including six royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 108 viscounts, and 439 barons (not counting subsidiary ...

and newspaper editor.

Biography

Berry was born in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

. His father was

Gomer Berry, 1st Viscount Kemsley James Gomer Berry, 1st Viscount Kemsley, GBE (7 May 1883 – 6 February 1968) was a Welsh colliery owner and newspaper publisher. Background Berry was born the son of John Mathias and Mary Ann (''née'' Rowe) Berry, of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales ...

(1883–1968), a prominent newspaper baron, owner of titles including ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' and the '' Daily Record''. Berry served in the

Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

until he was invalided in 1942. The following year 1943, in a wartime by-election on 4 April, he was elected unopposed as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of ...

. However, he lost his seat to Labour at the 1945 general election. Berry was managing editor of the ''

Daily Sketch The ''Daily Sketch'' was a British national tabloid newspaper, founded in Manchester in 1909 by Sir Edward Hulton, 1st Baronet. The ''Sketch'' was Conservative in its politics and populist in its tone during its existence through all its ch ...

'' and later Deputy Chairman of Kemsley Newspapers Limited. He succeeded as

Viscount Kemsley Viscount Kemsley, of Dropmore in Buckingham county, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1945 for the press lord Gomer Berry, 1st Baron Kemsley. He had already been created a Baronet, of Dropmore in the County of ...

upon his father's death in 1968. By then, his father's newspaper business had been sold off and Berry played no further part in it.

Marriage and family

Berry married Lady Helene Candida Hay (5 September 1913 - 4 January 2011), eldest daughter of William George Montagu Hay, 11th Marquess of Tweeddale, on 21 June 1933. They had four daughters: *

Hon Hon or HON may refer to: People Given name * Cho Hŏn (1544–1592), Joseon militia leader * Ho Hon (1885–1951), North Korean politician Surname * Han (surname) (Chinese: 韩/韓), also romanized Hon * Louis Hon (1924–2008), French fo ...

Mary Anne Berry (born 30 April 1934) * Hon Pamela Jane Marguerite Berry (27 May 1937 - 13 December 2013) * Hon Caroline Helen Berry (born 8 September 1942) * Hon Catherine Frances Lilian Berry (born 9 June 1944) Berry died aged 89 in 1999 in Harborough,

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

,Deaths England and Wales 1984-2006
/ref> and was succeeded in the viscountcy by his nephew, Richard Gomer Berry.

References

External links

* Kemsley, Lionel Berry, 2nd Viscount Kemsley, Lionel Berry, 2nd Viscount British Army personnel of World War II Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Grenadier Guards officers UK MPs 1935–1945 Kemsley, Lionel Berry, 2nd Viscount 2 People from Hendon Kemsley, Lionel Barry, 2nd Viscount Lionel Berry Politicians from the London Borough of Barnet {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1900s-stub