Michael John Hare, 2nd Viscount Blakenham (25 January 1938 – 8 January 2018), was a British

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

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

. Blankenham was the son of

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 and government minister

John Hare, 1st Viscount Blakenham John Hugh Hare, 1st Viscount Blakenham (22 January 1911 – 7 March 1982) was a British Conservative politician. Background and education Blakenham was born in London, the third son of The Rt. Hon. Richard Hare, 4th Earl of Listowel, an Ang ...

and Hon. Beryl Nancy Pearson, daughter of Harold Pearson, 2nd Viscount Cowdray. After some time working for partly or wholly owned subsidiaries, he joined the senior management of Pearson plc (founded by his mother's ancestors) in 1977, and was managing director from 1978 to 1983, chief executive from 1978 to 1993, and chairman from 1983 to 1997.Burke's Peerage 106th edition He also was Chief Executive (1983–93) and Chairman (1984–93) of the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', then a Pearson subsidiary. A lifelong environmentalist, Blakenham was chairman of the Royal Botanical Gardens at

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

as well as Council Chairman of the

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Charitable_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...

between 1982 and 1986 and president of Suffolk Wildlife Trust from between 1983 and 1987. He continued to develop the Blakenham Woodland Garden, which was created by his father. He also owned the island of Little Colonsay in the

Inner Hebrides The Inner Hebrides ( ; ) is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate. The Inner Hebrides compri ...

. Blakenham lived in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

and led the local political party Suffolk Together. He represented the party as a member of Mid Suffolk District Council from 2007 to 2015 under the name Michael Blakenham. During the

2014 European Parliament election The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 22 and 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties field ...

he endorsed

Rupert Read Rupert Read (born 1966) is an environmental philosopher, public intellectual, and the founder and current director of the Climate Majority Project. He is the author of several books on Wittgenstein, philosophy, and/or climate change, most recen ...

, lead candidate on the

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in the

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constituency. Through his sister, Joanna Freda Hare, he was a brother-in-law of

Stephen Breyer Stephen Gerald Breyer ( ; born August 15, 1938) is an American lawyer and retired jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton, and r ...

, who served as a Justice of the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

from 1994 to 2022.

Family

In January 1965 Blakenham married his 18-year-old first cousin, Marcia Persephone Hare (her father, his father's brother the Hon Alan Hare (1919–1995), preceded him as head of the ''Financial Times''). Lord and Lady Blakenham had a son and two daughters: * His son and successor, Caspar John Hare, 3rd Viscount Blakenham (born 1972), a philosophy professor at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

. married Melissa Mohr and has two children: **Thomasina **Inigo * author Cressida Cowell (born 1966), married Simon John Cowell and has 3 children: **Maisie **Clementine **Alexander * artist Emily Faccini (born 1967), married Ben Faccini and has 3 children: **Francesco **Delfina **Bay He died in January 2018 at the age of 79.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blakenham, Michael Hare, 2nd Viscount Of 1938 births 2018 deaths Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom People from Mid Suffolk District Royal Society for the Protection of Birds people Financial Times people

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Blakenham