Rupert Alexander Baring, 4th Baron Revelstoke (8 February 1911 – 18 July 1994) was a British landowner and peer.

Early life

Baring was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 8 February 1911. He was the only son of Cecil Baring, 3rd Baron Revelstoke and Maude Louise (

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 ...

Lorillard) Tailer. His parents met in New York, where his father was working for Kidder, Peabody & Co., which led his mother to divorce her first husband, Thomas Suffern Tailer (a son of Edward Neufville Tailer), who was one of his father's business partners. From his parents marriage, he had two sisters, Hon. Daphne Baring (wife of Arthur Joseph Lawrence Pollen, eldest son of

Arthur Pollen Arthur Joseph Hungerford Pollen (13 September 1866 – 28 January 1937) was an English journalist, businessman, and commentator on naval affairs who devised a new computerised fire-control system for use on battleships prior to the First World W ...

and grandson of Sir Joseph Lawrence) and the Hon. Calypso Baring (wife of Guy Maynard Liddell). From his mother's first marriage, he had an older half-brother, Lorillard Suffern Tailer, a polo player who married Catherine Harding, daughter of J. Horace Harding and granddaughter of Charles D. Barney, founder of the New York investment firm of Charles D. Barney & Co. (predecessor firm to Smith, Barney & Co.). His paternal grandparents were the former Louisa Emily Charlotte Bulteel (a daughter of John Crocker Bulteel, MP) and Edward Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke, the senior partner in the family banking firm of Baring Brothers and Co. Among his large extended paternal family were uncles John Baring, 2nd Baron Revelstoke, the prominent banker, Brigadier-General Everard Baring and novelist and Russophile

Maurice Baring Maurice Baring (27 April 1874 – 14 December 1945) was an English man of letters, known as a dramatist, poet, novelist, translator and essayist, and also as a travel writer and war correspondent, with particular knowledge of Russia. During Wo ...

. His aunt, Margaret, was the wife of

Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer Charles Robert Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer, (30 October 185726 September 1922), styled The Honourable Charles Spencer until 1905 and known as Viscount Althorp between 1905 and 1910, was a British courtier and Liberal politician from the Spencer ...

. His maternal grandparents were American tobacco millionaire,

Pierre Lorillard IV Pierre J. Lorillard IV (October 13, 1833 – July 7, 1901) was an American tobacco manufacturer and thoroughbred race horse owner. Early life Born in Westchester, New York, he was the son of Pierre Lorillard III (1796–1867) and Catherine ...

and Emily (née Taylor) Lorillard. Baring attended Eton and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

Career

Revelstoke worked for two years with

Baring Brothers Barings Bank was a British merchant bank based in London. It was one of England's oldest merchant banks after Berenberg Bank, Barings' close collaborator and German representative. It was founded in 1762 by Francis Baring, a British-born member ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and New York, where he socialized with

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Acade ...

and

Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their musical ...

. He wrote lyrics and verse, including a project of

Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a Slavery in ancient Greece, slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 Before the Common Era, BCE. Of varied and unclear origins, the stor ...

which was admired by his friend, Sir

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman, (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architect ...

. Another close friend, filmmaker

Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company Powell and Pressburger, The Archers, they together wrote, produced ...

, wrote the screenplay for the film ''

Black Narcissus ''Black Narcissus'' is a 1947 British psychological drama film jointly written, directed and produced by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, based on the 1939 novel by Rumer Godden. It stars Deborah Kerr, Sabu, David Farrar, and Flora R ...

'' while staying with Revelstoke at Lambay. Upon his father's death in 1934, he succeeded as the fourth

Baron Revelstoke Baron Revelstoke, of Membland in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 30 June 1885 for the businessman Edward Baring, head of the family firm of Barings Bank and a member of the Baring fami ...

. In the 1930s. Revelstoke served in the Territorial Army and "masterminded the collection and distribution of Red Cross parcels to be sent to prisoners of war" 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 ...

Lambay Island

In 1904, he father acquired

Lambay Island Lambay Island (), often simply Lambay, is an island in the Irish Sea off the coast of north County Dublin, Ireland. The largest island off the east coast of Ireland, it is offshore from the headland at Portrane, and is the easternmost point ...

, located in the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

. Rupert's godfather,

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...

, was responsible for the restoration of the castle on the Island when his father owned it. After Rupert inherited the barony, and under his sixty year stewardship of the Island, Lord Revelstoke's established "a sanctuary for seabirds, an enclosed ecology, and largely unspoilt even while the capital has grown northwards, with housing and light industry spreading up into the country opposite Lambay."

Personal life

While an undergraduate at Cambridge, he had a relationship with Angela Joyce, an actress and

Miss England Miss England is a national beauty pageant in England. History The contest, title owned by the Miss World organisation is organised each year by Angie Beasley, a winner of 25 beauty contests in the 1980s and has organised beauty pageants aro ...

of 1930. When he broke off the "engagement", she sued him for breach of promise of marriage. Revelstoke "refused to settle and endured having his love letters read out in court and published in the newspapers." Joyce's suit, which generated significant press interest, was unsuccessful, and led to the law being changed whereby a woman could "not be able to claim damages for not obtaining the position she hoped for as the wife of a rich man." Revelstoke was the last man to be sued in this way. On 1 March 1934, Lord Revelstoke married Hon. Florence "Flora" Fermor-Hesketh (1913–1971), second daughter of Thomas Fermor-Hesketh, 1st Baron Hesketh and the former Florence Louisa Breckinridge (a daughter of John Witherspoon Breckinridge of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and granddaughter of

John C. Breckinridge John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was an American politician who served as the 14th vice president of the United States, with President James Buchanan, from 1857 to 1861. Assuming office at the age of 36, Breckinrid ...

, former

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

). Before their divorce in 1944, they were the parents of: * John Baring, 5th Baron Revelstoke (1934–2003), who died without issue. * James Cecil Baring, 6th Baron Revelstoke (1938–2012), who married twice and had four children. After their divorce, Flora was remarried to Lt.-Cmdr. Derek Lawson of Passenham Manor before her death in 1971. Lord Revelstoke died in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

on 18 July 1994 and was succeeded by his eldest son,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

In popular culture

The lawsuit against Revelstoke by Angela Joyce was depicted in the drama series ''

The Duchess of Duke Street ''The Duchess of Duke Street'' is a BBC television drama series set in London between 1900 and 1925. It was created by John Hawkesworth (producer), John Hawkesworth, previously the producer of the ITV (TV network), ITV period drama ''Upstairs, ...

'' in 1977, where the character based on Revelstoke, Lord Haslemere, was played by the young

Christopher Cazenove Christopher de Lerisson Cazenove (17 December 1943 – 7 April 2010) was an English film, television and stage actor. Early life and career He was born Christopher de Lerisson Cazenove, on 17 December 1943, the son of Brigadier Arnold de Leri ...

References

External links

Rupert Baring, 4th Baron Revelstoke (1911-1994), Son of Cecil Baring, 3rd Baron Revelstoke of Membland
at the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Revelstoke, Rupert Baring, 4th Baron 1911 births 1994 deaths Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Rupert Rupert People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge