Name John 7th | Coronation date 1991 | |
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Similar People Alexander Baring - 1st Baron As, William Wilkins, Charles Robert Cockerell, Robert Smirke, Robert Adam | ||
John Francis Harcourt Baring, 7th Baron Ashburton, KG KCVO DL (born 2 November 1928) is a British merchant banker and former chairman of British Petroleum (BP). Lord Ashburton also sat on the boards of Jaguar Cars, Dunlop Rubber and Royal Insurance.
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Family
He was the oldest son of Alexander Baring, 6th Baron Ashburton, KG, and Doris Mary Thérèse Harcourt.
His maternal grandparents were Lewis Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt, and Mary Ethel Burns, daughter of Walter Hayes Burns of New York City.
First marriage
On 25 November 1955, Baring married Susan Mary Renwick. She was a daughter of Robert Renwick, 1st Baron Renwick, and his first wife Dorothy Mary Parkes. They had four children:
Lord Ashburton and his first wife received a divorce in 1984.
Second marriage
Following his divorce, Lord Ashburton remained single for three years. In 1987, he married Sarah Cornelia Spencer-Churchill, a daughter of John George Spencer-Churchill and Angela Mary Culme-Seymour. Her paternal grandparents were John Strange Spencer-Churchill and Lady Gwendoline Theresa Mary Bertie. John Strange Spencer-Churchill was a son of Lord Randolph Churchill and his wife Jennie Jerome. He was also a brother of Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The second Lady Ashburton is a director of Borderline [1] and has three children from a previous marriage. These are Peregrine Crewe, Emma Crewe (married to Nicholas Vester, they have two children Cleo and Scarlet) and Bel Crewe (who has two children Jack Badger and Molly Megan).
Lord Ashburton has no children from his second marriage.
Career
Lord Ashburton received his education at Eton College and Trinity College, Oxford.
He has served in the board of directors of several companies. The following list may not be complete:
Titles and honours
He succeeded to the Barony of Ashburton on 12 June 1991, and became a Knight of the Garter in 1994 - one of the rare cases where both father and son were appointed to this Order.