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Name: DELAMERE, Thomas Pitt Hamilton Cholmondeley 4th Baron, Lord

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Nee: eldest son of Hugh Cholmondeley

Birth Date: 19 Aug 1900 Vale Royal, Cheshire

Death Date: 13 Apr 1979 Soysambu estate

First Date: 1919

Last Date: 1979

Profession: Farmer

Area: Soysambu, Elmenteita

Married: 1. 14 June 1924 Phyllis Anne Montagu-Douglas-Scott (div.1944) b. 3 Mar 1904, d. 1978; 2. In Westminster 1944 Hon. Ruth Mary Clarisse Gardner née Ashley b. 22 July 1906 Stanmore, d. 10 Oct 1986 Cambridge (div. 1955) (dau of 1st Baron Mount-Temple and prev. m. to Alec Stratford Cunningham Reid 1895-1977); 3. In Kenya 1955 Diana née Caldwell b. 23 Dec 1913 Steyning, d. 3 Sep 1987 Bracknell, Berkshire (see her entry for previous marriages)

Children: 1. Elizabeth Florence Marion (Barrington) (1925-1988); Anne Jeanetta Essex (Garnett) (1927-2013); Hugh George (18 Jan 1934 Kensington)

Book Reference: Permanent Way, Debrett, Markham, Mischief, KAD, Hut, Red 22, Burke, Rift Valley, Web

War Service: Capt. Welsh Guards WW2

School: Eton 1914-1918

General Information:

Debrett - unsuccessfully contested Staffordshire Leek Division (U) 1924. 2nd wife Mary Ashley sister of Edwina Mountbatten, earlier Mrs Cunningham-Reid then later Mrs Gardner. 2nd marriage dissolved 1955. Married 3. 1955 - Diana Colvile ex Lady Delves Broughton ex Mrs Motion nee Caldwell  
Markham - lost his virginity to Beryl Markham in the hay loft of Delamere's stables when out for Xmas from Eton .......... second wife - Ruth Mary Clarisse (Gardner) née Ashley was the sister of Edwina Mountbatten
Burke - Chm. Everitts Advertising Ltd, Dir. Proved Securities Ltd. Second wife Ruth Mary Clarissa, yr daughter of 1st Baron Mount Temple and formerly wife of firstly Capt. Alec Stratford Cunningham-Reid DFC and secondly Major Ernest Laurie Gardner
Rift Valley - Member of the Rift Valley Sports Club - Jan 1929 - Elected - 7 Feb 1920 - Hon. Thos. Cholmondeley
Web - Alec Stratford Cunningham-Reid was married twice. His first marriage, on 12 May 1927, was to Hon. Ruth Mary Clarisse Ashley, daughter of Lt.-Col. Wilfrid William Ashley, 1st and last Baron Mount Temple and Amelia Mary Maud Cassel, a multimillionaire. [sic] The couple described by the 'Cincinatti Enquirer' "England's wealthiest girl and handsomest man", had 2 children: Michael Duncan Alec Cunningham-Reid (born 1928) and Noel Robert Cunningham-Reid (born 1930). On their honeymoon, she insisted that they share her wealth because "no decent woman likes to have a man live with her in charity", but when the couple divorced in 1940, he sued her for half of her $400,000 annual income.
Web - In 1934 Lord Delamere moved his family into Vale Royal Abbey, only to be forced out in 1939 when the Government converted Vale Royal to serve as a sanatorium for soldiers of World War II. The Cholmondeleys were restored to possession of the abbey after the War, but by 1947 the house and grounds had been sold.
Mischief - Red hair, small stature - a close friend of Gilbert Colvile. Buried at Gilbert Colvile's farm Ndabibi
Gazette 8 Feb 1980 probate

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