Robert
Vernon Heber-Percy (November 5, 1911 – October 29, 1987), known for much of
his life as "the Mad Boy", was "an English eccentric in the grand tradition".[1]
Partner Lord Berners
Queer Places:
Halkyn House, 13 Belgrave Square, Belgravia, London SW1X, Regno Unito
Faringdon Folly & House, The Courtyard, 9 Market Place, Market Pl, Faringdon SN7 7HL, Regno Unito
All Saints, Faringdon SN7, Regno Unito
Robert
Vernon Heber-Percy (November 5, 1911 – October 29, 1987), known for much of
his life as "the Mad Boy", was "an English eccentric in the grand tradition".[1]
He was born in 1911, the fourth and youngest son of Algernon Heber-Percy, a relative of the Duke of Northumberland and Gladys May Hulton-Harrap, and was brought up at Hodnet Hall in Shropshire.[1] He was educated at Stowe School, and commissioned into the King's Dragoon Guards.[1]
As a sideline, Heber-Percy ran an undertakers' business and was particularly fond of their yearly conferences, as they "invariably provided him with a fund of good stories".[2]
He was the companion/lover of the composer Lord Berners until his death in 1950, when he inherited Faringdon House in Oxfordshire.[1][3]
In 1942, he married an already pregnant Jennfier Fry, only child of Sir Geoffrey Fry, 1st Baronet.[4] They had a daughter, Victoria, born in 1943, but the marriage was dissolved in 1947.[1] All four of them lived together in Faringdon House, and were photographed by Cecil Beaton in September 1943.[3] The ménage à trois lasted only two years before Jennifer and their daughter Victoria moved to her parents' home, Oare House, in Wiltshire.[5]
At Faringdon, with (from left) Lord Berners, Doris Castlerosse, Daphne Weymouth and Robert Heber-Percy
Faringdon, February 1937. Gertrude Stein is sitting on the right, opposite Lord Berners. Their partners are sitting on the steps: Robert Hebert-Percy and Alice B. Toklas.
Including Sir Robert and Lady Diane Abdy.
Victoria Gala Heber-Percy married the engineer and inventor Peter Zinovieff, and they had three children, the eldest being the writer Sofka Zinovieff, who inherited the entirety of her grandfather's estate, including Faringdon House.[6][5]
In 1985, he married Lady Dorothy Lygon, the fourth daughter of William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp, but they "parted amicably" a year later.[1][2]
My published books:
