Cause of death Heart disease Name Loel Guinness | Role Politician | |
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Full Name Thomas Loel Evelyn Bulkeley Guinness Born 9 June 1906 ( 1906-06-09 ) London, United Kingdom Residence Epalinges, Paris, Piencourt in Normandy, New York City, Manalapan, Florida and Acapulco Occupation politician, member of Parliament, business magnate, aviator, socialite and philanthropist Relatives Countess Maria Alexandra de Quatrebarbes, Loel Patrick Guinness, Victoria Niarchos, Sheridan William Guinness, Thomas Seymour Guinness and Lady Chloe Belinda Vane-Tempest-Stewart grandchildren Died December 31, 1988, Houston, Texas, United States Spouse Gloria Guinness (m. 1951–1980), Joan Yarde-Buller (m. 1927–1936), Lady Isabel Violet Kathleen Manners Children William Loel Seymour Guinness Siblings Meraud Michelle Wemyss Guinness, Tanis Eva Bulkeley Guinness Parents Bridget Henrietta Frances, Benjamin Solomon Guinness Similar People Gloria Guinness, Dolores Guinness, Sheridan Hamilton‑Temple‑Blackwood - 5th Marq, Prince Aly Khan, Aga Khan IV | ||
Group Captain Thomas Loel Evelyn Bulkeley Guinness OBE (9 June 1906 – 31 December 1988) was a British Conservative politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for Bath (1931–1945), business magnate and philanthropist. Guinness also financed the purchase of the Calypso for the famous oceanic explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his movie The Silent World (1956).
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Early life
Raised in the United States and England, Loel Guinness was a son of Benjamin Solomon Guinness (1868–1947), a lawyer from whom he inherited a fortune, and Bridget Henrietta Frances Williams-Bulkeley (d. 1931). He was descended from Samuel Guinness, a Dublin goldsmith (1727–1795) and younger brother of the Guinness brewery's founder Arthur Guinness.
He also had two sisters: Meraud Michelle Wemyss Guinness (1904–1993), who married Alvaro Guevara (1894–1951) in 1929, and Tanis Eva Bulkeley Guinness (1908–1993) who married The Hon. William Drogo Sturges Montagu (m.1931-1937), son of George Charles Montagu, 9th Earl of Sandwich, Howard Dietz (m. 1937-1951), and lastly, Lt. Commander Charles Edward Harold John Phillips, who was the paternal uncle of Alexandra Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn and Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster, and first cousin of Janet Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven), whom she married in 1951.
He was educated at Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He gained the rank of Lieutenant in the service of the Irish Guards.
Career
In 1929, after taking flying lessons, Mr. Guinness became one of the first private citizens in England to own an airplane and soon he was a member of the County of London's Auxiliary Air Force Squadron. He later served as president of Air Work Ltd., an aircraft-parts supplier, and of British United Airways.
In 1931, on his third try, Mr. Guinness was elected to Parliament for Bath and was named parliamentary private secretary to Sir Philip Sassoon, the Under Secretary for Air from 1931-35. He held his seat until 1945, when he stood down.
Second World War
He gained the rank of Group Captain in the service of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, Loel Guinness went on active duty with the Royal Air Force. In 1940 he flew as a fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain, famously buying a petrol station near his aerodrome when his driving was restricted by rationing. In 1944 he became commander of a wing of the Second Tactical Air Force and by the war's end he had been mentioned in despatches five times. He was invested as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1942. The Netherlands made him a commander of the Order of Orange Nassau and France made him an officer of the Legion of Honor and awarded him a Croix de Guerre.
Personal life
Guinness's first marriage was to the Honourable Joan Barbara Yarde-Buller (1908–1997), a daughter of the 3rd Lord Churston. Before their divorce, Loel and Joan had a son, who would later marry his stepsister in 1955:
At his son's christening on 15 July 1931 at St Margaret's, Westminster, his godparents were Princess Ingrid of Sweden (1910–2000), Richard Francis Roger Yarde-Buller, 4th Baron Churston (1910–1991), Sir Philip Sassoon, 3rd Baronet (1888–1939), Walter Rosen (1875–1951), Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), and Mrs. Richard Guinness (née Beatrice Mackay, formerly Mrs. Nico Jungman).
Joan left him for Prince Aly Khan, the eldest son of the Aga Khan III, the 43rd Shia Imam, whom she married on 18 May 1936, a few days after her divorce became absolute. Through this marriage, his son Patrick was a half-brother to the present Aga Khan IV. Joan and Khan also divorced and the Prince later married Rita Hayworth, the actress, and Joan married the 2nd Viscount Camrose and died as the Dowager Viscountess Camrose, also known as Joan Berry, Viscountess Camrose.
In 1936, he married his second wife, Lady Isabel Violet Kathleen Manners (1918–2008), the second daughter of John Manners, 9th Duke of Rutland. His wife was prominent in society at Palm Beach. Together, they were the parents of son and a daughter:
On 7 April 1951, he married his third wife, the socialite Gloria Rubio y Alatorre (1912–1980), who had been the wife of Prince Ahmed Fakyr of Egypt, grandson of King Fuad I of Egypt. Her daughter, Dolores married his eldest son, Patrick Benjamin Guinness (1931–1965).
On 31 December 1988, Guinness died of heart disease at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, United States.
Descendants
Through his son Patrick and his stepdaughter Dolores, he was the grandfather of Maria Alexandra (born 1956), who married Foulques, Count de Quatrebarbes (born 1948) in 1979, Loel Patrick Guinness (born 1957), and Victoria Christina Guinness (born 1960), who married Philip Niarchos in 1984 (son of late Greek billionaire Stavros Niarchos).
Through his son William, he was the grandfather of Sheridan William Guinness (born 1972), Thomas Seymour Guinness (born 1973), and Chloë Belinda Vane-Tempest-Stewart (born 1976), who married Lord Reginald Alexander Vane-Tempest-Stewart (born 1977).