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Nicholas Preston, 17th Viscount Gormanston

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(Jenico) Nicholas Dudley Preston, 17th Viscount Gormanston (born 19 November 1939), is an Anglo-Irish aristocrat and British hereditary peer, who sat in the House of Lords (as Baron Gormanston) until 1999.[1]

Lord Gormanston is the premier viscount in the Peerage of Ireland (title created 1478).[2]

Family background

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Gormanston Castle, Co. Meath

The only son and heir of Captain the 16th Viscount Gormanston (1914–1940)[3] and Pamela Hanly, daughter of Captain Edward Hanly and Lady Marjorie Feilding (daughter of the 9th Earl of Denbigh), he succeeded to the family titles before his first birthday; the 16th Viscount (Captain Jenico Preston, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry) was killed in action[4] during the Battle of France in 1940.[5]

His maternal great-grandfather was General Sir William Butler, of Bansha Castle, County Tipperary, and his great-grandmother was the celebrated Victorian painter, Elizabeth Thompson (later Lady Butler). The 14th Viscount Gormanston GCMG, a diplomat, was his paternal great-grandfather.

Education

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A Roman Catholic like his forebears, Lord Gormanston attended the Benedictine school of Downside, Somerset. He is a connoisseur of art.

Gormanston Castle

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The ancestral seat, Gormanston Castle in County Meath, Ireland, was sold to the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor (OFM) in 1947, becoming Gormanston College.[6]

Personal life

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In 1974, Viscount Gormanston married, firstly, Eva-Antonie Landzianowski (1955–1984),[7][8] having two sons:[9]

Viscount Gormanston married, secondly, on 2 November 1997 Lucy Arabella Fox (born 1960), daughter of Edward Fox and Tracy Reed.[16]

Lord and Lady Gormanston live in Kensington, London.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Parliamentary career for Viscount Gormanston – MPs and Lords – UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk.
  2. ^ "Burke's Peerage & Baronetage".
  3. ^ www.npg.org.uk
  4. ^ www.parliament.uk
  5. ^ www.npg.org.uk
  6. ^ www.gormanstoncollege.ie
  7. ^ Burke’s Peerage & Baronetage. Vol. I (106th ed.). London: Burke’s Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd. 1999. p. 1179. ISBN 1-57958-083-1.
  8. ^ "Viscountess found dead after heroin overdose". Westminster & Pimlico News. 28 December 1984. Retrieved 18 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "Gormanston, Viscount (I, 1478)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk.
  10. ^ www.haberdashers.co.uk
  11. ^ www.fashionunited.uk
  12. ^ www.olympia.co.uk
  13. ^ www.diarydirectory.com
  14. ^ "Jo Malone London".
  15. ^ www.debretts.com
  16. ^ www.burkespeerage.com
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Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by
Jenico Preston
16th Viscount Gormanston
Viscount Gormanston
1940–present
Incumbent
Heir apparent:
Hon. Jenico Preston
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Jenico Preston
5th Baron Gormanston
Baron Gormanston
1940–present
Member of the House of Lords
(1940–1999)
Incumbent
Heir apparent:
Hon. Jenico Preston