Nicholas Preston, 17th Viscount Gormanston

(Jenico) Nicholas Dudley Preston, 17th Viscount Gormanston (born 19 November 1939), is an Anglo-Irish aristocrat and British hereditary peer, who sat on the Conservative & Unionist benches in the House of Lords (as Baron Gormanston) until 1999.{{Cite web|url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/2612/career|title=Parliamentary career for Viscount Gormanston – MPs and Lords – UK Parliament|website=members.parliament.uk}}

File:Coronet of a British Viscount.svg

File:Blason de la famille Gormanston.svg

Lord Gormanston is styled the Premier Viscount of Ireland, his title being created by Edward IV in 1478.{{cite web|url=https://www.burkespeerage.com|title=Burke's Peerage & Baronetage}}

Family background

File:Gormanston Castle, Co. Meath - geograph.org.uk - 578384.jpg]]

The only son and heir of the 16th Viscount Gormanston (1914–1940) and Pamela Hanly (1917–1975), only daughter and heiress of Captain Edward Hanly,[https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205300636 www.iwm.org.uk] of Avonmore House, Co. Wicklow[https://irishhistorichouses.com/2020/11/12/historic-houses-in-county-wicklow-listed-in-the-national-inventory-of-architectural-heritage/ www.irishhistorichouses.com] and Lady Marjorie Feilding (daughter of the 9th Earl of Denbigh {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=|GCVO}}), he succeeded in the family titles before his first birthday.[https://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/peers-roll-contents www.college-of-arms.gov.uk]

His father, the 16th Viscount Captain Jenico Preston, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (who married Pamela Hanly in 1939), served in WWII being killed in action[https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/war-memorial-lists/war-memorials-royal-gallery-ww2.pdf www.parliament.uk] at Dunkirk in 1940.[https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp53360/jenico-william-richard-preston-16th-viscount-gormanston www.npg.org.uk]

His grandfather, the 15th Viscount Gormanston {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=|JP|DL}}, a prominent Irish landowner (of about 11,000 acres),[https://www.jstor.org/stable/24624351 www.jstor.org] served as a Lieutenant in the 15th (Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles) Bn, The London Regiment.

His maternal great-grandfather was General Sir William Butler, of Bansha Castle, County Tipperary, and his great-grandmother was the celebrated Victorian painter, Elizabeth Thompson (later Lady Butler). The diplomat, the 14th Viscount Gormanston {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=|GCMG}}, was his paternal great-grandfather.

=Gormanston Castle=

The ancestral seat, Gormanston Castle in County Meath, Ireland, was sold to the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor (OFM) in 1947, becoming Gormanston College.[http://www.gormanstoncollege.ie/ www.gormanstoncollege.ie]

=Later life=

A Roman Catholic as with his recusant ancestors, he was educated at the Benedictine school of Downside, Somerset.

A socialite, Lord Gormanston became a connoisseur of art, being elected {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=|FRSA}}.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thersa.org/ |title=The RSA - Royal Society of Arts}}

Personal life

In 1974, Viscount Gormanston married firstly, Eva-Antonie Landzianowska (1955–1984),[https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/actress-cleo-rocos-at-the-funeral-of-eva-landzianowska-wife-news-photo/104571246 Eva Landzianowska funeral @ www.gettyimages.co.uk] daughter of Feliks Landzianowski (1907–2001),{{cite news |title=Viscountess found dead after heroin overdose |work=Westminster & Pimlico News |date=28 December 1984 |accessdate=18 September 2024 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0003293/19841228/028/0028| via = British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription }} by whom he has two sons:{{Cite web|url=http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/gormanston1478.htm|title=Gormanston, Viscount (I, 1478)|website=www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk}}

The Hon. Jenico Francis Tara Preston, born 30 April 1974, heir apparent; commercial director[https://haberdashers.co.uk/membership www.haberdashers.co.uk] British Fashion Council[https://fashionunited.uk/news/people/british-fashion-council-appoints-3-new-directors-to-support-ceo/2016091321750 www.fashionunited.uk] then Future Olympia,[https://olympia.co.uk/team/ www.olympia.co.uk] married 2015 Kelly Catherine Reade (born 1978), global communications director Jo Malone,[https://www.diarydirectory.com/newsarticle/jo-malone-london-global-announces-team-appointments/38305 www.diarydirectory.com] descended via her mother from the marquises of Chaves,{{Cite web|url=https://www.jomalone.co.uk/home|title=Jo Malone London|website=}} by whom he has one son,
(Jenico Bertram Nicholas) Alfred Preston, born 2016, heir-in-line;[https://www.burkespeerage.com/ www.burkespeerage.com]
The Hon. William Luke Preston, born 1976, married 2016 Victoria Christensen.[https://debretts.com/peerage-and-baronetage/ www.debretts.com]

He married secondly on 2 November 1997 Lucy Arabella Grenfell (née Fox; 1960), only daughter of Edward Fox and Tracy Reed.{{cite book |editor-last= |editor-first= |date=1999 |title=Burke’s Peerage & Baronetage |edition=106th |volume=I |location=London |publisher=Burke’s Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd. |page=1179 |isbn=1-57958-083-1}}

Lord and Lady Gormanston live in Kensington, London.

References

External links

{{Hansard-contribs | mr-jenico-preston | Viscount Gormanston }}
[http://www.hereditarypeers.com/MAIN.HTM www.hereditarypeers.com]
[https://debretts.com/peerage/ranks-and-privileges-of-the-peerage/ www.debretts.com]