Lionel Brett, 4th Viscount Esher
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Lionel Gordon Baliol Brett, 4th Viscount Esher, 4th Baron Esher CBE (18 July 1913 – 9 July 2004) was a British peer, architect and town-planner. He succeeded to his title on the death of his father in 1963.


Early life

Brett was born in
Windsor, Berkshire Windsor is a historic town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarch. The town is situated we ...
, the son of Oliver Sylvain Baliol Brett, 3rd Viscount Esher and Antoinette Heckscher (1888–1965). His paternal grandparents were Eleanor (
née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Van de Weyer) Brett and Reginald Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher, an MP and the Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle and a close friend and adviser of
Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...
and
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...
. His maternal grandparents were Anna (née Atkins) Heckscher and August Heckscher (1848–1941), a German-born American capitalist and philanthropist. His grandfather married Virginia Henry Curtiss after his grandmother's death in 1924. He was educated at Eton and New College, Oxford, where he read history.


Career

He proceeded to the Architectural Association, but left to learn from the traditionalist A. S. G. Butler and then, as a non-qualified partner of
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and Aileen Tatton Brown, passed the
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external exams in the summer of 1939, winning the Ashpitel Prize. He spent the Second World War mostly in Britain, training gunners in the
Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
, until he went through France and Belgium to witness the surrender of Lübeck and
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. In 1945, he stood as Liberal parliamentary candidate for Henley, coming third in the poll. Esher formed a partnership with Kenneth Boyd to design new houses as Architect-Planner of Hatfield New Town, Hertfordshire, and wrote the initial report of the Hatfield Development Corporation. In November 1957, some 50 of Hatfield's two-storey terraced houses lost their mono-pitched roofs in a storm, and the adverse publicity and financial liability ended his business. From this period, despite not wanting to be known as a country-house architect, he was most proud of small houses in Oxfordshire for Hans Juda and in Warwickshire for Lord Dormer. His real interest was in planning, and he carried out a study of York for the government, after which he published ''York: a study in conservation'' (1968). He formed a second practice, Brett and Pollen, with Francis Pollen in 1959; they were later joined by Harry Teggin. He left the partnership in 1971 to take up the post of Rector of the
Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...
, which he held until 1978. He then returned to writing. ''A Broken Wave: the rebuilding of England 1940–1980'' (1981) was an attempt to chronicle and analyse the achievements of post-war architecture and planning, following on from ''Parameters and Images: architecture in a crowded world'' (1970). He served as president of the Royal Institute of British Architects from 1966 to 1967. National Life Stories conducted an oral history interview (C467/14) with Lionel Gordon Baliol Brett Esher in 1997 for its Architects Lives' collection. The recording is held by the British Library.National Life Stories, 'Esher, Lionel Gordon Baliol Brett (1 of 13) National Life Stories Collection: Architects' Lives', The British Library Board, 1997
Retrieved 10 April 2018


Honours

Esher was appointed a Commander of the
Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(CBE) in the 1970 Birthday Honours.


Personal life

In 1935, he married Helena Christian Pike, a painter. She was the daughter of Colonel Ebenezer John Lecky Pike and Olive Snell. Her sister, Katherine Mary Penelope Pike, was married to Lawrence Dundas, 3rd Marquess of Zetland. Together, Lionel and Helena were the parents of: * Christopher Lionel Baliol Brett, 5th Viscount Esher (b. 1936) * Hon. Michael Jeremy Baliol Brett (b. 1939) * Hon. Guy Anthony Baliol Brett (1942–2021) * Hon. Maurice Sebastion Baliol Brett (b. 1944) * Hon. Olivia Clare Teresa Brett (b. 1947) * Hon. Stephen Patrick Baliol Brett (b. 1952) The Esher family lived in Watlington Park, a country house in the Chilterns, from where Lionel Brett also ran his architectural practice. He later gave the house to his eldest son, and built a house of his own design, named The Tower, on the grounds of the estate. Esher's autobiography ''Ourselves Unknown'' records how he nursed his wife through a long mental breakdown in the 1960s, but notes that she gave him equal support and strength over nearly 70 years. Viscount Esher died aged 90 in 2004.


Selected architecture

Notable works by the partnership of Brett, Francis Pollen and Harry Teggin include: * 190–192 Sloane Street, Chelsea, showrooms and offices, 1963–1965 * Pall Mall Court, Manchester, offices, 1966–1968 * Library at Downside Abbey, Somerset, 1965–1970 * Refectory and guest accommodation, east wing, Downside Abbey, 1970–1975


Arms


References


External links


Photograph of Viscount Esher
at the National Portrait Gallery, London * {{DEFAULTSORT:Esher, Lionel Gordon, 4th Viscount 1913 births 2004 deaths Military personnel from Berkshire People educated at Eton College People from Windsor, Berkshire Alumni of New College, Oxford 20th-century English architects Presidents of the Royal Institute of British Architects Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Architects from Berkshire Rectors of the Royal College of Art Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British Army personnel of World War II Royal Artillery officers Lionel Esher