John Lyttelton, 11th Viscount Cobham
| The Viscount Cobham | |
|---|---|
| Born | John William Leonard Lyttelton 15 June 1943 |
| Died | 13 July 2006 (aged 63) Spain |
| Title | 11th Viscount Cobham |
| Other titles | 11th Baron Cobham 14th Baronet Lyttelton 8th Lord Lyttelton 8th Baron Westcote of Ballymore |
| Predecessor | 10th Viscount Cobham |
| Successor | 12th Viscount Cobham |
| Spouse(s) |
Penelope née Cooper (1974-1995) Lisa Clayton (1997-2006, his death) |
| Issue | None |
| Parents |
Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham Elizabeth Alison Makeig-Jones |
John William Leonard Lyttelton, 11th Viscount Cobham (15 June 1943 – 13 July 2006) was a nobleman from the Lyttelton family. He was known as "Johnny Lyttelton" to his friends and family.
He was educated at Eton, where his father had been before him, and at Christ's College, Christchurch while his father was Governor-General of New Zealand. He later attended the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester.
He married Penelope Ann Cooper in 1974, and inherited the family's titles and 200-year-old Worcestershire mansion, Hagley Hall, on his father's death in 1977. Facing steep death duties and high maintenance costs as well as the unstable state of finances left by his predecessors, he auctioned his family's 700-year archive for £164,000, and sold Necker Island to Richard Branson for £180,000. The hall was converted into a conference venue, although it also remained the family home.
He was a member of the Conservative Party, but shyness prevented him from taking the seat in the House of Lords that his hereditary peerage entitled him to. He left the Conservatives in 1992, in protest at Michael Heseltine's announcement that many coal mines would be closed. His first wife was a special adviser to David Mellor when Mellor was Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in 1992. Lady Cobham was later to leave her husband for Mellor, and they were divorced on 30 August 1995. Lord Cobham had to sell family heirlooms to pay his former wife a £1 million divorce settlement. He later confessed to having contemplated suicide over the break-up of his marriage, and admitted sitting in his drawing room holding a loaded shotgun.
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