Nationality United Kingdom Children 5 Name Samuel 3rd | Political party Conservative Education Eton College Religion Christian | |
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Born 19 March 1941 (age 83) ( 1941-03-19 ) Title 3rd Baron Vestey;
Master of the Horse Residence Stowell Park, United Kingdom Predecessor Samuel Vestey, 2nd Baron Vestey | ||
Occupation Chairman, Vestey Group | ||
Samuel George Armstrong Vestey, 3rd Baron Vestey (born 19 March 1941) is a British peer, landowner, philanthropist and businessman.
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Lord Vestey currently serves as Master of the Horse to the Royal Household.
Early life
Samuel Vestey was born on 19 March 1941. He was educated at Eton College, before attending Sandhurst. He served as a Lieutenant in the Scots Guards. He is a great-grandson of the celebrated opera singer Dame Nellie Melba.
Business career
Lord Vestey has served as the Chairman of the Vestey Group since 1995 and was Chairman of the Meat Training Council from 1991–95. He is also a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Butchers.
In popular culture
Vestey's battle with the native Australian Gurindji people over working conditions and native land claims was chronicled in Paul Kelly's song "From Little Things Big Things Grow", originally released on his 1991 album Comedy. Vestey also features in Ted Egan's song "Gurindji Blues", which is about the land rights and working conditions of Australian aboriginal people at Wave Hill Cattle Station in the Northern Territory.
In 1954 Vestey succeeded his grandfather in the peerage title at the age of thirteen. His family seat is Stowell Park Estate in Gloucestershire, where his father is buried.
He was Chancellor (1988–91) and Lord Prior of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem (1991–2002) having been appointed Bailiff Grand Cross (GCStJ) in 1987. He became a Deputy Lieutenant of Gloucestershire in 1982.
Lord Vestey has served as Master of the Horse to the Royal Household, to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom since 1999, who appointed him Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in the 2009 Birthday Honours.
Personal life
On 11 September 1970 Vestey married Kathryn Mary Eccles. They had two daughters, then divorced. Vestey married his current wife, Celia Elizabeth Knight, on 22 December 1981. They have three children.
His elder son, The Hon. William Guy Vestey, served as a Page of Honour to Queen Elizabeth II from 1995 to 1998.
The Vestey family's combined wealth (Lord Vestey, with his cousin, Edmund Hoyle Vestey) amounts to approximately £1.2 billion according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2013.