Vernon Henry St John, 6th Viscount Bolingbroke, 7th Viscount St John

Vernon Henry St John, 6th Viscount Bolingbroke,[1] was born in Bath in 1896.[2] He was the fourth child of the 5th viscount and his wife Mary Elizabeth Emily, a former domestic. The couple's secret marriage and the existence of an heir was revealed only after the death of the 5th viscount in 1899.[3] It came as a huge shock to the locals and went on to become a national scandal.[4] Although the couple had three boys, Vernon Henry was the only one who was legitimate and thus inherited the title.

Childhood and Adolescence

After the 5th Viscount's death and the revelation of the marriage and children, Mary Howard, now the dowager Viscountess Bolingbroke, moved to live permanently at Lydiard Park, the Bolingbroke family seat outside the Wiltshire village of Lydiard Tregoze. with her sons and her cousin Edward Hiscock, who she installed as her confidante and estate manager. None of the children were to have any formal education and were looked after by a procession of nurses and nannies. Vernon Henry spent the whole of his childhood at Lydiard, while his older brothers moved away in the early years of the 20th century.

Army Service

The young viscount enlisted in 1917, soon after his coming of age party. He joined the 6th Dorsetshire Regiment and saw service in a variety of conflicts - including Reux and Passchendaele - before being invalided out a week before the Armistice.

Peerage Claim (1922-1926)

The case again made national headlines in 1922 when Vernon Henry petitioned the House of Lords to be recognized as the 6th Viscount Bolingbroke.[5] During the House of Lords hearing witnesses were cross-examined and many of the family's details were revealed.

After a long intervening period, Vernon Henry St John was officially recognized as the 6th Viscount Bolingbroke in 1926.[6]

During the Second World War, Lydiard Park was requisitioned for a variety of military uses. After the death of his mother, Vernon moved away from the ancestral home which was in the process of being sold to Swindon Corporation. He took up residence in Ringwood, Hampshire, during which time he was befriended by the art historian Rupert Gunnis.

Marriage

In 1950 Vernon married Valezina Frohawk, the daughter of renowned lepidopterist William Frohawk, in Sutton, Surrey.[7] The marriage was annulled two years later after Valezina's claims of her husbands unreasonable behavior.[8] which many speculated was due to shell shock from his army service.

Death

The 6th viscount died on 1 May 1974 at Crow Hill, just outside Ringwood in Hampshire.

References

  1. ↑ The Peerage
  2. ↑ Sheffield Evening Telegraph, 8 December 1899 (p.5)
  3. ↑ Wyndham, Horace: Romances of the Peerage, Holden & Hardingham, 1914.
  4. ↑ Edinburgh Evening News, 9 December 1899 (p.2)
  5. ↑ Western Morning News, 4 March 1922 (p.7)
  6. ↑ Western Morning News, 13 April 1926.
  7. ↑ Evening Standard, 6 June 1950
  8. ↑ Frohawk, Valezina: I Remember, Feather Press 2001
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