Robin Neville, 10th Baron Braybrooke

The Lord Braybrooke
KStJ
10th Baron Braybrooke
In office
12 February 1990 – 5 June 2017
Preceded byHenry Seymour Neville, 9th Baron Braybrooke
Succeeded byRichard Neville, 11th Baron Braybrooke
26th Visitor of Magdalene College, Cambridge[1]
In office
12 February 1990 – 5 June 2017
Preceded byHenry Seymour Neville, 9th Baron Braybrooke
Succeeded byRichard Neville, 11th Baron Braybrooke
Lord Lieutenant of Essex
In office
3 August 1992 – October 2000
Preceded bySir Andrew Lewis
Succeeded byJohn Petre, 18th Baron Petre
Deputy Lieutenant of Essex
In office
1980–1992
Personal details
Born
Robin Henry Charles Neville

29 January 1932
United Kingdom
Died5 June 2017 (aged 85)
Abbey House, Saffron Walden, United Kingdom
Spouse(s)
Robin Helen Brockhoff
(m. 1955; div. 1974)

Linda Norman
(m. 1974; div. 1998)

Perina Courtauld
(m. 1998; died 2017)
ChildrenCaroline Stanley, Countess of Derby
7 others
Parent(s)Henry Seymour Neville, 9th Baron Braybrooke
Muriel Evelyn Manning
EducationEton College
Royal Agricultural College
Alma materMagdalene College, Cambridge
ProfessionMilitary officer

Robin Henry Charles Neville, 10th Baron Braybrooke KStJ[2][3] (29 January 1932 – 5 June 2017) was a British peer and military officer. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Essex from 1992 until 2000.

Biography

Robin Henry Charles Neville was born on 29 January 1932 as the only son of Henry Seymour Neville, 9th Baron Braybrooke and Muriel Evelyn Manning.[3] When he was seven years old, during World War II, he was evacuated to Llandovery, Carmarthenshire in South West Wales and stayed at the home of a retired guard of the Great Western Railway. While staying in Llandovery he developed an interest in railways. He later had a miniature railway built at Audley End.[4]

He was educated at Eton College and served in the Rifle Brigade. From 1951 to 1952 he served in the 3rd Battalion King's African Rifles in Kenya and Malaya. When he returned to England after his military service, he studied history at Magdalene College, Cambridge, graduating in 1955. He held honorary degrees from the University of Essex and Anglia Ruskin University.[4]

Braybrooke had only a life interest in the Audley End Estate due to a will trust created by the 7th Baron. The current beneficiaries of Audley End Estate are (but not limited to) the heirs general of the only daughter of the 7th Baron.[5]

A trained pilot, he operated a small airfield on the Audley End Estate called the Audley End International Aerodome. Audley End House was sold to English Heritage in 1948 by the trustees of the estate in tenure of the 9th Baron Braybrooke.[4] Lord Braybrooke became Deputy Lieutenant of Essex from 1980 to 1992.

Lord Braybrooke was married three times. In 1955 he married his first wife, Robin, with whom he had five daughters: Amanda Muriel May Neville, Caroline Emma Neville, Henrietta Jane Neville, Victoria Neville, and Arabella Neville. One of his daughters from his first marriage, Henrietta, died in a riding accident. He had three daughters with his second wife, Linda: Sara Lucy Neville, Emma Charlotte Neville, and Lucinda Octavia Neville. He married his third wife, Perina (née Courtauld), in 1998.[4]

He succeeded his father and became the 10th Baron Braybrooke in 1990. From 1992 to 2000 he served as Lord Lieutenant of Essex.

He died on 5 June 2017 at Abbey House near Saffron Walden. A private funeral was held at the Church of St Mary the Virgin on 21 July 2017.[4] He was succeeded to the Barony by his fourth cousin once removed, Richard Neville.[6] On his death the life interest in the 6,500 acre Audley End Estate transferred to Louise Newman, the granddaughter of the 7th Baron Braybrooke.[7] His eldest daughter, Amanda, criticised agnatic primogeniture, which stops daughters from inheriting titles where the original letters patent specify that it may be inherited by males only.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ Magdalene College, Cambridge (2017). "Magdalene College Magazine No. 61 2016–17" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 May 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Braybrooke, Baron (GB, 1788)". cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Person Page". thepeerage.com.
  4. ^ a b c d e Singer, Angela. "Lord Braybrooke of the Audley End Estate dies aged 85". Dunmow Broadcast.
  5. ^ "History of the Audley End Estate". Audley End Estate.
  6. ^ "Lord Braybrooke". The Times. 10 June 2017.
  7. ^ "Baron's daughter fails to inherit family estate thanks to "discriminatory" law". vardags.com.
  8. ^ Rudgard, Olivia (11 June 2017). "Downton Abbey writer hits out at inheritance laws after baron's daughter loses right to title and land". The Daily Telegraph.
  9. ^ Keay, Lara (12 June 2017). "Aristocrat's daughter loses £60million inheritance due to historic law". Daily Express.
Honorary titles
Preceded by
Henry Neville
Visitor of Magdalene College, Cambridge
2017–present
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Essex
1992–2002
Succeeded by
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by
Henry Neville
Baron Braybrooke
1990–2017
Succeeded by