Richard Francis Roger Yarde-Buller, 4th Baron Churston VRD (12 February 1910 – 9 April 1991) was a

British peer A Peerage is a form of crown distinction, with Peerages in the United Kingdom comprising both hereditary and lifetime titled appointments of various ranks, which form both a constituent part of the legislative process and the British hono ...

and a naval officer.

Early life

Yarde-Buller was born on 12 February 1910. He was the eldest son of

John Yarde-Buller, 3rd Baron Churston John Reginald Lopes Yarde-Buller, 3rd Baron Churston OBE, MVO, (9 November 1873 – 19 April 1930) was a British peer and soldier. He was the maternal grandfather of Karim Aga Khan, leader of the Nizari Ismailis, an Islamic denomination. E ...

and the former actress

Denise Orme Jessie Smither, Duchess of Leinster (25 August 1885 – 20 October 1960),Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 2, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd (2003), p. 2300 known by her stage name Denise Orme, was a ...

. After his parents divorced in 1928, his mother married, and later divorced Theodore William Wessel, the former Danish chargé d'affaires in Chile, before marrying the 7th Duke of Leinster in 1946. His siblings were Hon.

Joan Yarde-Buller Joan Barbara Berry, Viscountess Camrose (née Yarde-Buller, later Guinness and Princess Taj-ud-dawlah Aga Khan; 22 April 1908 – 25 April 1997), was an English socialite, one of the Bright Young Things.{{cite journal, title=Showing Aside the Jazz ...

(who married Loel Guinness,

Prince Aly Khan Prince Aly Salomone Khan (13 June 1911 – 12 May 1960), known as Aly Khan, was an Ismaili sayyid, socialite and ambassador for Pakistan. He was the son of the Aga Khan III, and the father of Aga Khan IV. A socialite, racehorse owner and jocke ...

, and 2nd Viscount Camrose); Hon. John Reginald Henry;

Denise Grosvenor, Baroness Ebury Denise may refer to: * Denise (given name), people with the given name ''Denise'' * Denise (computer chip), a video graphics chip from the Amiga computer * Denise (song), "Denise" (song), a 1963 song by Randy & the Rainbows * Denise, Mato Grosso, ...

(wife of the 5th Baron Ebury); Lydia Russell, Duchess of Bedford (wife of

John Russell, 13th Duke of Bedford John Ian Robert Russell, 13th Duke of Bedford (24 May 1917 – 25 October 2002), styled Lord Howland until 1940, and styled Marquess of Tavistock from 1940 until 1953, was a writer and a British peerage, British peer. As a businessman, the Duke ...

) and Primrose Cadogan, Countess Cadogan (wife of the 7th Earl Cadogan). He was educated at

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 ...

Career

In 1926, his father's country seat, Lupton House in

Churston Ferrers Churston Ferrers is an area and former civil parish, in the borough of Torbay, Devon, England, situated between the south coast towns of Paignton and Brixham. Today it is administered by local government as the Churston-with-Galmpton ward of t ...

, suffered a major fire which damaged the house and resulted in the removal of the third floor. Much of the fine paneling and decorative plasterwork were lost. After he succeeded to his titles, he inherited Lupton, owning the house until 1960 (when it was sold to Rowland Smith), during most of which time it was let as he did not live there. In 1943, 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 ...

both the house and estate were requisitioned by the military. The estate played a major role in the support and training of the U.S. Infantry in their preparations for

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The ope ...

and the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

landings.Powling, Margaret
"Lupton House and Its Secret Garden”, ''Savista Magazine''
, February 1914. Upon his father's death on 19 April 1930, he succeeded as the 4th

Baron Churston Baron Churston, of Churston Ferrers and Lupton in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1858 for the former Conservative Member of Parliament, Sir John Yarde, 3rd Baronet. He had earlier re ...

and Lupton and the 6th Baronet Buller. He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Commander in the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roya ...

and fought in

. He was awarded the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Officers' Decoration in 1949.

Personal life

On 5 January 1933, Lord Churston was married to Elizabeth Mary du Pré, the second daughter of Lt.-Col.

William Baring du Pré Colonel William Baring du Pré, (5 April 1875 – 23 August 1946) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. He was a descendant of James Du Pré and likewise lived at Wilton Park Estate, Wilton Park, Beaconsfield from ...

Wilton Park Wilton Park is an executive agency of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office providing a global forum for strategic discussion. Based since 1951 at Wiston House in Sussex, it organises over 70 dialogues a year in the UK and overs ...

and, his first wife, the former Youri Wynyard Wright (only daughter of Capt. Henry Townley Wright of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

). Before they divorced in 1943, they had two children: * John Francis Yarde-Buller, 5th Baron Churston (b. 1934), who married Alexandra Joanna Contomichalos, daughter of Anthony Contomichalos, in 1973.Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. volume 1, page 790. * Hon. Nicole Yarde-Buller (b. 1936), who married, firstly, Richard Wilfred Beavoir Berens, son of Herbert Cecil Berens of

Bentworth Hall Bentworth Hall is a English country houses, country house in the civil parish, parish of Bentworth in Hampshire, England. It is about south of Bentworth village centre and northwest of Alton, Hampshire, Alton, the nearest town. Before the 183 ...

, in 1958. They divorced in 1962 and she married, secondly, Michael Russell, son of Edward Dennis Russell, in 1963. After their divorce, Lady Churston married Maj. Peter Laycock on 10 December 1943 before her death on 23 September 1951. On 31 March 1949, Lord Churston remarried to Sandra ( Needham) Griffiths Dunfee, who had acted under the stage name

Sandra Storme Sandra Storme ( Eileen Violet Needham) (22 December 1914 – 1 December 1979) was an English dancer and actress, known for the films ''Murder in Soho'' (1939) and ''Q Planes'' (1939). Biography She was born Eileen Violet Needham in London on ...

. She was the daughter of Percy Needham and former wife of Arthur Griffiths and Jack Dunfee. They remained married until her death on 1 December 1979. In 1981, Lord Churston married for the third time to Olga Alice Muriel (

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "to the red shield", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by signs ...

) Blair, the former wife of Bryce Evans Blair. Olga was the illegitimate daughter of

Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild, (8 February 1868 – 27 August 1937) was a British banker, politician, zoology, zoologist, and soldier, who was a member of the Rothschild family. As a Zionist leader, he wa ...

by his mistress, Marie Barbara Fredenson (a daughter of Maximilian Fredenson). Lord Churston died on 9 April 1991. Lady Churston died in 1992.Peter W. Hammond, editor, ''The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times, Volume XIV: Addenda & Corrigenda'' (Stroud, Gloucestershire, U.K.: Sutton Publishing, 1998), page 177.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yarde-Buller, Richard 4th Baron Churston 1910 births 1991 deaths Churston, Richard Yarde-Buller, 4th Baron 4 Churston, Richard Yarde-Buller, 4th Baron

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...