Oliver Sylvain Baliol Brett, 3rd Viscount Esher, (23 March 1881 – 8 October 1963) was a British peer and politician.

Early life

Brett was the elder son of the Liberal courtier and politician

Reginald Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher Reginald Baliol Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher, (30 June 1852 – 22 January 1930) was a British historian and Liberal Party politician, although his greatest influence over military and foreign affairs was as a courtier, member of public committees ...

, the Governor of Windsor Castle, and Eleanor Van de Weyer, daughter of Belgian ambassador

Sylvain Van de Weyer Jean-Sylvain Van de Weyer (19 January 1802 – 23 May 1874) was a Belgian politician who served as the Belgian Minister at the Court of St. James's, effectively the ambassador to the United Kingdom, and briefly, as the prime minister of Belg ...

and grand-daughter of Anglo-American financier Joshua Bates. His siblings included Maurice Vyner Baliol Brett, who married the famous musical theatre actress

Zena Dare Zena Dare (born Florence Hariette Zena Dones; 4 February 1887 – 11 March 1975) was an English actress and singer, who was famous for her performances in Edwardian musical comedy and other musical theatre and comedic plays in the first half o ...

;

Dorothy Dorothy may refer to: *Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name. Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Dorothy'' (TV series), 1979 American TV series * Dorothy Mills, a 2008 French movie, sometimes titled simply ''Dorot ...

, who was a painter and member of the

Bloomsbury Group The Bloomsbury Group was a group of associated British writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the early 20th century. Among the people involved in the group were Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster, Vanessa Bell, a ...

; and Sylvia, who became the last Ranee of

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

on 24 May 1917, following the proclamation of her husband

Charles Vyner Brooke Charles Vyner Brooke, (full name Charles Vyner de Windt Brooke, 26 September 1874 – 9 May 1963) was the third and last White Rajah of the Raj of Sarawak. Early life Charles Vyner Brooke was the son of Charles Brooke and Margaret de Windt ( ...

Raja Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...

h. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

. Brett was a friend of his eventual wife's brother, G. Maurice Heckscher.

Career

He was an unpaid private secretary to Lord Morley, the

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India secretary or the Indian secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of ...

, from 1905 to 1910. In the

January January is the first month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the year within most of the No ...

and

December December is the twelfth and final month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. December's name derives from the Latin word ''decem'' (meaning ten) because it was originally the tenth month of the year in t ...

1910 elections he unsuccessfully stood for

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...

as a Liberal. In 1914, he joined the 1/16th (County of London) Battalion (Queen's Westminster Rifles), and was attached to the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

. For his wartime service he was appointed a Member 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 ...

(Military Division) in 1918. He succeeded his father, who was a close personal friend of King

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 King

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 ...

, as

Viscount Esher Viscount Esher, of Esher in the County of Surrey, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 11 November 1897 for the prominent lawyer and judge William Brett, 1st Viscount Esher, William Brett, 1st Baron Esher, upon his r ...

in 1930. Esher was chairman of the general purposes committee of the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

for 25 years, and of its historical buildings committee from its inception in 1934. He was also involved with many cultural and artistic charities, including the

Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) (also known as Anti-Scrape) is an amenity society founded by William Morris, Philip Webb, and others in 1877 to oppose the Victorian restoration, destructive 'restoration' of ancient bu ...

, the London Museum, the Historic Churches Trust, and the

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

. He was also a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

and an honorary Fellow of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

. In 1955, he was promoted a

Knight Grand Cross 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 ...

"for services to the Arts".

Personal life

In September 1912, Brett sailed to New York aboard the RMS ''Campania'' in advance of his wedding. While talking to a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reporter, he said that he "knew nothing about the wedding arrangements except the date, and did not even know who was to be the best man. None of his friends, so far as he knew, was going over to the wedding, as the distance was too far. It was suggested that in these days of fast liners the distance was short. He answered: 'It is to English people.' He smilingly denied that the absence of friends from the station implied family opposition to the marriage, and added: 'Why should there be?'". On 1 October 1912, the then Hon. Oliver Brett was married to the American-born Antoinette Heckscher (1884–1967) at Wincoma, the country home of her parents in Huntington on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

in New York. Antoinette was the daughter of German-born

August Heckscher August Heckscher (August 26, 1848 – April 26, 1941) was a German-born American capitalist and philanthropist. Early life Heckscher was born in Hamburg, Germany. He was the son of Johann Gustav Heckscher (1797–1865) and Marie Antoinette ...

, who made his fortune in

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

mining with the

New Jersey Zinc Company New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

before entering the New York real estate business. Her paternal grandparents were Johann Gustav Heckscher, a German politician who was the Minister of Justice in the provisional German government headed by

Archduke John of Austria Archduke John of Austria (, ; (or simply ''Nadvojvoda Janez''); 20 January 1782 – 11 May 1859), a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, was an Austrian field marshal and imperial regent (''Reichsverweser'') of the short-lived German Emp ...

, and Marie Antoinette (née Brautigan) Heckscher. After their marriage, the couple first made their home at Orchard Lea,

Windsor Forest Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

, until acquiring the

Watlington Park Watlington Park is an English country house with its surrounding grounds of approximately , located atop an escarpment in the Chiltern Hills, approximately southwest of Christmas Common and southeast of Watlington, Oxfordshire. History Th ...

country house in the Chilterns in 1920. Together, Esher and Antoinette were the parents of: *

Lionel Brett, 4th Viscount Esher 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 Win ...

(1913–2004), a former president of the

. * Hon. Virginia Anne Charlotte Brett (1916–1990) * Hon. Nancy Mildred Gladys Brett (1918–1999), who married Sir Evelyn Shuckburgh, the British Ambassador to Italy. * Hon. Priscilla Leónie Helen Brett (1921–2000), who became Lady Beckett upon her marriage to Sir Martyn Gervase Beckett, 2nd Bt. Lord Esher died on 8 October 1963 at which time he was succeeded in his titles by his son, Lionel. His widow died less than two years later, on 22 July 1965.

Arms

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Esher, Oliver Sylvain, 5th Viscount 1881 births 1963 deaths People educated at Eton College Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects Queen's Westminsters officers British Army personnel of World War I Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Military personnel from Berkshire Historical preservationists

Oliver Oliver may refer to: Arts, entertainment and literature Books * ''Oliver the Western Engine'', volume 24 in ''The Railway Series'' by Rev. W. Awdry * ''Oliver Twist'', a novel by Charles Dickens Fictional characters * Ariadne Oliver ...