Victor Hervey, 6th Marquess of Bristol

Infobox Writer
name = The Marquess of Bristol


caption = Lord Bristol and Lady Juliet Fitzwilliam on their wedding day
full name = Victor Frederick Cochrane Hervey
relatives = Herbert Arthur Robert Hervey, 5th Marquess of Bristol (father) Lady Jean Alice Elaine Cochrane (mother)
birthdate = birth date|1915|10|6|df=y
birthplace =
deathdate = death date and age|1985|3|10|1915|10|6|df=y
deathplace =

Victor Frederick Cochrane Hervey, 6th Marquess of Bristol (6 October 1915–10 March 1985) was a British nobleman. He is notable as a political activist (he was Chancellor of the International Monarchist League) and as a member of the House of Lords. In his youth he was jailed for three years for two jewel thefts.Haden-Guest, Anthony. [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,,1691342,00.html "The end of the peer"] , "The Observer", January 22, 2006. Accessed May 17, 2008.]

The 6th Marquess of Bristol was the only son of Herbert Arthur Robert Hervey, 5th Marquess of Bristol and Lady Jean Cochrane, the daughter of the 12th Earl of Dundonald. His godmother was Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain. He held the titles of Earl of Bristol, Earl Jermyn, and Baron Hervey of Ickworth in Suffolk. He was Hereditary High Steward of the Liberty of Bury St Edmunds, was patron of thirty (clerical) livings, and held estates in Suffolk, Essex, Lincolnshire, and also in Dominica, in the West Indies. He was educated at Eton College and at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

Family

The Marquess married three times:
# At the age of 34, on 6 October 1949 (divorced 1959), Pauline Bolton and had issue Frederick William John Augustus Hervey, 7th Marquess of Bristol (known as John), gaoled twice on drugs offenses, died childless aged 44;
# At the age of 45, 23 April 1960, Lady Anne Juliet Dorothea Maud Wentworth Fitzwilliam, aged 25, only child of Peter Wentworth-FitzWilliam, 8th Earl FitzWilliam, with issue a son, Lord Nicholas Hervey, diagnosed schizophrenic, Yale University and Eton College graduate, died by his own hand, childless, aged 36.
# At the age of 60, in 1974, Yvonne Marie Sutton, aged 25 and his private secretary, with issue Frederick William Augustus Hervey, 8th Marquess of Bristol (known as Frederick) and the socialite actress/models, Lady Victoria Hervey and Lady Isabella Hervey (the face of Playboy UK).

Lord Bristol was a harsh father to his oldest son, according to friends of the latter. "He treated his son and heir with indifference and contempt," said Anthony Haden-Guest. The Marquess of Blandford summed up the relationship: "Victor created the monster that John became."

Criminal dealings

Victor Hervey was suspected of being the Pink Panther of his day and the ringleader of a gang of former public school boys known as the Mayfair Playboys, who assaulted and robbed a jeweller from Cartier, as a result of which two of them were sentenced to being flogged with the cat-o'-nine-tails, a sentence which was not later passed in Britain.Day, Peter. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2511962.ece "It girls' father was Pink Panther thief"] , "The Sunday Times", September 23, 2007. Accessed May 17, 2008.] [Bale, Joanna. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article569655.ece "Junkie marquess died penniless after spending millions on drugs"] , "The Times Online", September 23, 2005. Accessed May 17, 2008.]

In 1939 he was gaoled for three years for two Mayfair jewellery robberies, made when he was 22 years old. The court recorder observed: 'The way of the amateur criminal is hard. But the way of the professional is disastrous.'In his youth he was called "Mayfair's Number One Playboy," having sold an article about his life and exploits to the newspapers.

Business dealings

Victor Hervey (as he was then known) went bankrupt in 1937, aged just 21, with debts of £123,955, equivalent to around £10 million in today's money. The bankruptcy seems even more prevalent given his young age. He had been selling guns during the Spanish Civil War to both sides, and the bankruptcy resulted from a deal which went wrong. He nevertheless continued in his arms-dealing activities and was Francisco Franco's principal agent for many years. Bristol went on to amass a fortune estimated to be in excess of £50 million.

In 1970 he was recorded as having a great many business interests. He was at one time chairman of the following: Estates Associates Ltd., Ickworth Forestry Contractors Ltd., V.L.C. Associates Ltd., Marquis of Bristol & Co., Eastern Caravan Parks Ltd., Sleaford Investments Ltd., The Bristol Publishing Company, Radio Maria Ickworth Automatic Sales Ltd., Bristol International Airways Ltd., Dominca Enterprises Co., and World Liberty Plots. Fact|date=May 2007 He was also involved in other companies. He owned the Ickworth Stud, Suffolk, and Emerald Hillside Estates, in Dominica. He was Vice-President of the UK Taxpayers Union, a council member of the National Yacht Harbour Association, a member of the West India Committee.

From 1975 until his death, he was Chancellor of the International Monarchist League. He was also a long-standing member of the Conservative Monday Club.

He and his third wife and family moved to Monte Carlo, Monaco, in early 1979 as tax exiles. He died there on 10 March 1985, aged 69 and was buried in Menton, France. On his today unkempt grave stands "Je n'oublieray jamais" ("I will never forget").

ee also

* Marquess of Bristol for the story of the Hervey family

References

ources

*"Burkes Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage". Edited by Peter Townend, 105th edition. London, 1970, p. 345.
*"The Monarchist", 1985, number 66, Norwich, UK (Memorial on p.3).
*De-la-Noy, Michael. "The House of Hervey". London, 2001. ISBN 1-84119-309-7
*citeweb|title=The police file on Victor Hervey|url=http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/hervey.pdf