Name Alistair 9th | Died June 20, 2012, Richmond | |
Alexander Charles Robert "Alistair" Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 9th Marquess of Londonderry (7 September 1937 – 20 June 2012) was a British nobleman.
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Biography
The son of Robin Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 8th Marquess of Londonderry (1902–1955) and his wife, the former Romaine Combe (died 1951), Alexander Charles Robert Vane-Tempest-Stewart was known familiarly as "Alistair". When the 8th Marquess died in 1955, Alistair became the 9th Marquess at age 18. He renovated the family estate, Wynyard Park, County Durham, which Nikolaus Pevsner described as "the most splendid 19th century mansion house in the county". Wynyard was sold by Lord Londonderry in 1987 and is now owned by the property developer Sir John Hall.
Lord Londonderry was an accomplished pianist and a self-taught linguist. He could read French, German, and Italian. As a student, he ran a jazz band called the "Eton Five". His first wife, whom he married in 1958, was Nicolette Elaine Katherine, daughter of Michael Harrison, a stockbroker, and his Latvian-born wife Baroness Maria Koskull. Nicolette, Lady Londonderry, gave birth to two daughters: Lady Sophia (b. 23 February 1959) and Lady Cosima (b. 25 December 1961, who married Lord John Robert Somerset, third son of David Somerset, 11th Duke of Beaufort).
She also gave birth to a son, James, who was once but is no longer styled Viscount Castlereagh, as Lord Londonderry later proved that James was not his biological child, but that of singer Georgie Fame. The Londonderrys divorced in 1971. Lady Cosima would later claim that her biological father was actually Robin Douglas-Home, nephew of Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the former Prime Minister. Nicolette married Georgie Fame in 1972; they had another son, Tristan. She committed suicide on 13 August 1993 by jumping off Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Lord Londonderry's second wife was Doreen Patricia Wells, former principal dancer at the Royal Ballet, whom he married in 1972; they divorced in 1989. They had two sons, Frederick Aubrey Vane-Tempest-Stewart (born 6 September 1972), and Lord Reginald Alexander Vane-Tempest-Stewart (b. 1977), who is married to Chloë Belinda Guinness (born 29 April 1976); the couple have one child.
Death
The 9th Marquess of Londonderry died on 20 June 2012, aged 74. His elder son, Frederick Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, succeeded to his titles as the 10th Marquess.