Loel Guinness | |
---|---|
Born |
Thomas Loel Evelyn Bulkeley Guinness 9 June 1906 London, United Kingdom |
Died | 31 December 1988 Houston, United States |
(aged 82)
Cause of death | Heart disease |
Resting place | Cimetière du Bois de Vaux, Lausanne |
Residence | Epalinges, Paris, Piencourt in Normandy, New York City, Manalapan, Florida and Acapulco |
Occupation | politician, member of Parliament, business magnate, aviator, socialite and philanthropist |
Spouse(s) |
Hon. Joan Barbara Yarde-Buller (m. 1927–36) Lady Isabel Violet Kathleen Manners (m. 1936–51) Gloria Rubio y Alatorre (m. 1951; d. 1980) |
Children | Patrick Benjamin Guinness, William Loel Seymour Guinness and Serena Belinda Rosemary, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava |
Parent(s) | Benjamin Solomon Guinness and Bridget Henrietta Frances Williams-Bulkeley |
Relatives | Countess Maria Alexandra de Quatrebarbes, Loel Patrick Guinness, Victoria Niarchos, Sheridan William Guinness, Thomas Seymour Guinness and Lady Chloë Belinda Vane-Tempest-Stewart grandchildren |
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).
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:
He was educated at Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He gained the rank of Lieutenant in the service of the Irish Guards. 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.
Guinness's first marriage was to the Honourable Joan Barbara Yarde-Buller (1908–1997), a daughter of the 3rd Lord Churston, who left him for Prince Aly Khan, the eldest son of the Aga Khan III (Aly later married the actress Rita Hayworth; Princess Joan Aly Khan married thirdly the 2nd Viscount Camrose and died as the Dowager Viscountess Camrose or Joan Berry, Viscountess Camrose). He and Joan had a son, Patrick Benjamin Guinness (1931–1965) who would later marry his stepsister in 1955.