Henry Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath

British politician (1905–1992)

The Most Honourable
The Marquess of Bath
1973 photograph by Allan Warren
Member of Parliament
for Frome
In office
27 October 1931 – 25 October 1935
Preceded byFrederick Gould
Succeeded byMavis Tate
Personal details
Born
Lord Henry Frederick Thynne

26 January 1905
Died30 June 1992(1992-06-30) (aged 87)
Political partyConservative
Spouses
Daphne Vivian
​
​
(m. 1927; div. 1953)​
Virginia Tennant
​
(m. 1953)​
Children
Parents
Alma mater
  • Harrow School
  • Christ Church, Oxford
OccupationAristocrat, landowner, politician
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch/service British Army
RankMajor
UnitRoyal Wiltshire Yeomanry
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsEfficiency Decoration
Bronze Star

Henry Frederick Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath ED JP (26 January 1905 – 30 June 1992), styled Lord Henry Thynne until 1916 and Viscount Weymouth between 1916 and 1946, was a British aristocrat, landowner, and Conservative Party politician.

Background and education

Lord Bath was the second son of Thomas Thynne, 5th Marquess of Bath, and Violet Mordaunt, the illegitimate daughter of Harriet Mordaunt and Lowry Cole, 4th Earl of Enniskillen. He was educated at the New Beacon School, Sevenoaks, Harrow, and Christ Church, Oxford. In 1916 he became the heir apparent to his father’s estates and peerages after his elder brother, John, was killed in action in the First World War.

At Oxford, Thynne was part of the Railway Club, which included: Henry Yorke, Roy Harrod, David Plunket Greene, Harry Fox-Strangways, Brian Howard, Michael Rosse, John Sutro, Hugh Lygon, Harold Acton, Bryan Guinness, Patrick Balfour, Mark Ogilvie-Grant, and John Drury-Lowe.[1]

In the 1920s the tabloid press considered him one of the Bright Young Things.

Political and military careers

As Viscount Weymouth, he was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Frome between 1931 and 1935, and served as a member of the Council of the Duchy of Cornwall from 1933 to 1936 and Justice of the Peace for Wiltshire in 1938.

He gained the rank of major in the service of the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, fought in the Second World War, and was awarded the Bronze Star.[2]

Thynne succeeded his father as Marquess of Bath in 1946. He was noted for his forestry work on the ancestral estate of Longleat. It was he who developed the safari park and opened the house to the public in 1949.[3]

From 1960 onwards he amassed what would become the largest collection of paintings by Adolf Hitler, numbering sixty by 1983.[4] To some extent an admirer of Hitler, the Marquess is quoted as saying “Hitler did a hell of a lot for his country”.[4]

Family

On 27 October 1927, Lord Weymouth married, first, Daphne Vivian, daughter of George Vivian, 4th Baron Vivian. Before divorcing, in 1953, they had five children:

  • Lady Caroline Jane Thynne (1928–1995); married David Somerset, 11th Duke of Beaufort, and had issue.
  • The Honourable Thomas Timothy Thynne (1929–1930); died in infancy.
  • Alexander George Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath (1932–2020); married Anna Gyarmathy and had issue.
  • Lord Christopher John Thynne (1934–2017); married Antonia Palmer, daughter of Sir Anthony Palmer, 4th Baronet, and had issue.
  • Lord Valentine Charles Thynne (1937–1979); married, first, Veronica Jacks and had issue. He married, secondly, Susanne Alder; and, thirdly, Liese Dennis.

After becoming Lord Bath he married, secondly, Virginia Penelope Parsons (1917–2003), on 15 July 1953, following her divorce earlier that year from David Tennant.[5] They had one daughter:

  • Lady Silvy Cerne Thynne (b. 22 December 1958); married Iain McQuiston and has issue. A sister-in-law of the current Marchioness of Bath.[6]


  • v
  • t
  • e
 Family tree summary for the Thynnes of Longleat from about 1500[7]
Ralph Botevile[8]
Thomas Thynne[8]William Thynne[8][9]
d. 1546
John Thynne of Longleat[10]
c. 1515–1580		Francis Thynne[9]
c. 1544–1608
John Thynneof Longleat[11]
1555–1604		Charles Thynne[12]
c. 1568–1652
Thomas Thynne of Longleat[13]
c. 1578–1639
Baronet of Caus Castle, of Kempsford in the County of Gloucester, 1641
James of Longleat[14]
1605–1670		Thomas of Richmond[15]
d. 1669		Henry Frederick Thynne
1615–1680
1st Baronet of Kempsford
Baron Thynne, 1680
Viscount Weymouth, 1682
Thomas of Longleat,[16]
1648–1682		Thomas Thynne[17]
1640–1714
inherited Longleat, 1682
1st Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
2nd Baronet of Kempsford		James Thynne of Buckland
d. 1709		Henry Thynne Frederick
d. 1705
unmarried
Henry Thynne[18]
1675–1708		Thomas Thynne d. 1710
two daughters but no sons
Thomas Thynne[19]
1710–1751
2nd Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
3rd Baronet of Kempsford
Marquess of Bath, 1789Baron Carteret (2nd creation), 1784
Thomas Thynne[20]
1734–1796
1st Marquess of Bath,
3rd Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
4th Baronet of Kempsford		Henry Carteret[21]
1735–1826
1st Baron Carteret
Thomas Thynne[22]
1765–1837
2nd Marquess of Bath,
4th Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
5th Baronet of Kempsford		George Thynne
1770–1838
2nd Baron Carteret		John Thynne
1772–1849
3rd Baron Carteret
Baron Carteret extinct, 1849
Henry Thynne
[23]
1797–1837
3rd Marquess of Bath,
5th Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
6th Baronet of Kempsford		Edward Thynne
1807–1884		Lady Charlotte Anne Thynne
1811–1895
marr.: Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, Duke of Buccleuch and had issue.
John Thynne[24]
1831–1896
4th Marquess of Bath,
6th Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
7th Baronet of Kempsford		Henry Thynne
1832–1904
Thomas Thynne
1862–1946
5th Marquess of Bath,
7th Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
8th Baronet of Kempsford		Ulric Oliver Thynne
1871–1957
Henry Thynne
1905–1992
6th Marquess of Bath,
8th Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
9th Baronet of Kempsford
Thomas Timothy Thynne
1929–1930		Alexander George Thynn
1930–2020
7th Marquess of Bath,
9th Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
10th Baronet of Kempsford		Christopher John Thynne
1934–2017		Valentine Charles Thynne
1937–1979
Ceawlin Thynn
b. 1974
8th Marquess of Bath,
10th Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
11th Baronet of Kempsford		Lucien Henry Valentine Thynne
b. 1965
John Alexander Ladi Thynn
b. 2014
styled Viscount Weymouth

References

  1. ^ Lancaster, Marie-Jaqueline (2005). Brian Howard: Portrait of a Failure. Timewell Press. p. 122. ISBN 9781857252118. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  2. ^ "No. 36791". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 November 1944. p. 5189.
  3. ^ Hugo Vickers Obituary: Henry Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath, The Independent, 1 July 1992
  4. ^ a b Harris, Robert (1986). Selling Hitler. London: Faber and Faber. pp. 113. ISBN 0-571-14726-7.
  5. ^ "From bohemia to a life of nobility". Sydney Morning Herald. 31 October 2003. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  6. ^ Hoare, Philip. "Virginia, Marchioness of Bath", The Independent, 26 September 2003
  7. ^ Burke, Sir Bernard, (1938 ed) Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Shaw, London. p. 243
  8. ^ a b c Woodfall, H. (1768). The Peerage of England; Containing a Genealogical and Historical Account of All the Peers of that Kingdom Etc. Fourth Edition, Carefully Corrected, and Continued to the Present Time, Volume 6. p. 258.
  9. ^ a b Lee, Sidney; Edwards, A. S. G. (revised) (2004). "Thynne, William (d. 1546)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27426. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  10. ^ Girouard, Mark, Thynne, Sir John (1515–1580), estate manager and builder of Longleat in Oxford Dictionary of Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004)
  11. ^ Booth, Muriel. "Thynne, John (?1550–1604), of Longleat, Wilt". History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  12. ^ Lancaster, Henry; Thrush, Andrew. "Thynne, Charles (c.1568–1652), of Cheddar, So". History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  13. ^ Pugh, R. B.; Crittall, Elizabeth, eds. (1957). "Parliamentary history: 1529–1629". A History of the County of Wiltshire. Vol. 5. London: Victoria County History – via British History Online.
  14. ^ Ferris, John P. "Thynne, Sir James (c.1605-70), of Longbridge Deverill, Wilt". History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  15. ^ Helms, M. W.; Ferris, John P. "Thynne, Sir Thomas (c.1610–c.69), of Richmond, Sur". History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  16. ^ Marshall, Alan (2008) [2004]. "Thynne, Thomas [nicknamed Tom of Ten Thousand] (1647/8–1682)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27423. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  17. ^ Heath-Caldwell, J. J. "Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath, 3rd Viscount Weymouth". JJ Heath-Caldwell. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  18. ^ Hayton, D. W. "Thynne, Hon. Henry (1675-1708)". The History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  19. ^ Dunaway, Stewart (2013). Lord John Carteret, Earl Granville: His Life History and the Granville Grants. Lulu. p. 33. ISBN 9781300878070.
  20. ^ "Bath, Thomas Thynne". Encyclopedia Britannica 1911. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  21. ^ Thorne, Roland. "Carteret [formerly Thynne], Henry Frederick". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  22. ^ "Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath (1765–1837)". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  23. ^ Escott, Margaret. "Thynne, Lord Henry Frederick (1797-1837), of 6 Grovesnor Square, Md". History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  24. ^ "John Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath (1831-1896), Diplomat and landowner". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
  • Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages [self-published source] [better source needed]

External links

  • Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Henry Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Frome
1931–1935 		Succeeded by
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by Marquess of Bath
1946–1992 		Succeeded by
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