Bryan Walter Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne (27 October 1905 – 6 July 1992), was
an heir to part of the Guinness family brewing fortune, lawyer, poet and
novelist. He married
Diana Mitford, but later divorced her.Queer Places:
Eton College, Windsor SL4 6DW, Regno Unito
Heatherdown School, London Rd, Winkfield Row, Ascot SL5 8DR, Regno Unito
University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3PA
Biddesden House, Biddesden Ln, Ludgershall, Andover SP11 9DN, Regno Unito
St. James, 16 Chapel Ln, Ludgershall, Andover SP11 9QF, Regno Unito
Bryan Walter Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne (27 October 1905 – 6 July 1992), was
an heir to part of the Guinness family brewing fortune, lawyer, poet and
novelist. He married
Diana Mitford, but later divorced her.
He was born to Walter Edward Guinness (created 1st Baron Moyne in 1932), son of Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, and Lady Evelyn Stuart Erskine, daughter of the 14th Earl of Buchan. He attended Heatherdown School, near Ascot in Berkshire, followed by Eton College (also in Berkshire), and Christ Church, Oxford, and was called to the bar in 1931.
At Oxford, Guinness was part of the Railway Club, which included: Henry Yorke, Roy Harrod, Henry Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath, David Plunket Greene, Edward Henry Charles James Fox-Strangways, 7th Earl of Ilchester, Brian Howard, Michael Parsons, 6th Earl of Rosse, John Sutro, Hugh Lygon, Harold Acton, Bryan Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne, Patrick Balfour, 3rd Baron Kinross, Mark Ogilvie-Grant, John Drury-Lowe.[2]
As an heir to the Guinness brewing fortune and a handsome, charming young man, Bryan was an eligible bachelor. One of London's "Bright Young Things", he was an organiser of the 1929 "Bruno Hat" hoax art exhibition, held at his home in London.[3]
In 1929 Guinness married Hon Diana Mitford, one of the Mitford sisters. They had two sons:
Railway Club at Oxford, conceived by John Sutro, dominated by Harold Acton. (Left to right) Back: Henry Yorke, Roy Harrod, Henry Weymouth, David Plunket Greene, Harry Stavordale, Brian Howard. Middle row: Michael Rosse, John Sutro, Hugh Lygon, Harold Acton, Bryan Guinness, Patrick Balfour, Mark Ogilvie-Grant, Johnny Drury-Lowe. Front: porters.
The couple became leaders of the London artistic and social scene and were dedicatees of Evelyn Waugh's second novel Vile Bodies. However, they divorced in 1933, after Diana deserted Guinness for British fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley.
Guinness remarried in 1936 to Elisabeth Nelson (1912–1999), daughter of Thomas Arthur Nelson[4] of the Nelson publishing family, with whom he had nine children.[5]
During World War II Guinness served for three years in the Middle East with the Spears Mission to the Free French, being a fluent French speaker, with the rank of major. Then in November 1944 Guinness succeeded to the barony when his father, posted abroad as Resident Minister in the Middle East by his friend Winston Churchill, was assassinated in Cairo.
After the war, Lord Moyne served on the board of the Guinness corporation as vice-chairman in 1947-79, as well as the Guinness Trust and the Iveagh Trust, sitting as a crossbencher in the House of Lords. He served for 35 years as a trustee of the National Gallery of Ireland and donated several works to the gallery. He wrote a number of critically applauded novels, memoirs, books of poetry, and plays. With Frank Pakenham he sought the return of the "Lane Bequest" to Dublin, resulting in the 1959 compromise agreement. He was invested as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.[7]
Lord Moyne died in 1992 at Biddesden, his home in Wiltshire, and was succeeded by his eldest son Jonathan.
My published books:
