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 in the House of Lords (as Baron Gormanston) until 1999.^[1]

Lord Gormanston is the premier viscount in the Peerage of Ireland (title created 1478).^[2]

Family background

The only son and heir of Captain the 16th Viscount Gormanston (1914–1940)^[3] and Pamela Hanly, daughter of Captain Edward Hanly and Lady Marjorie Feilding (daughter of the 9th Earl of Denbigh), he succeeded to the family titles before his first birthday; the 16th Viscount (Captain Jenico Preston, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry) was killed in action^[4] during the Battle of France in 1940.^[5]

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 14th Viscount Gormanston GCMG, a diplomat, was his paternal great-grandfather.

Education

A Roman Catholic like his forebears, Lord Gormanston attended the Benedictine school of Downside, Somerset. He is a connoisseur of art.

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.^[6]

Personal life

In 1974, Viscount Gormanston married, firstly, Eva-Antonie Landzwójczaka (1955–1984),^[7] having two sons:^[8]

Hon. Jenico Francis Tara Preston, born 1974, heir apparent; commercial director,^[9] British Fashion Council^[10] then Future Olympia,^[11] married 2015 Kelly Catherine Reade (born 1978), global communications director Jo Malone,^[12] descended via her mother from the Marquises of Chaves,^[13] by whom he has one son,
- (Jenico Bertram Nicholas) Alfred Preston, born 2016, heir in line;
Hon. William Luke Preston, born 1976, married 2016 Victoria Christensen.^[14]

Viscount Gormanston married, secondly, on 2 November 1997 Lucy Arabella Fox (born 1960), daughter of Edward Fox and Tracy Reed.^[15]

Lord and Lady Gormanston live in Kensington, London.

References

^ "Parliamentary career for Viscount Gormanston - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk.
^ "Burke's Peerage & Baronetage".
^ www.npg.org.uk
^ www.parliament.uk
^ www.npg.org.uk
^ www.gormanstoncollege.ie
^ Polish Order of the Virtuti Militari
^ "Gormanston, Viscount (I, 1478)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk.
^ www.haberdashers.co.uk
^ www.fashionunited.uk
^ www.olympia.co.uk
^ www.diarydirectory.com
^ "Jo Malone London".
^ www.debretts.com
^ www.burkespeerage.com

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Viscount Gormanston
www.hereditarypeers.com
www.debretts.com

Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Jenico Preston 16th Viscount Gormanston	Viscount Gormanston 1940–present	Incumbent Heir apparent: Hon. Jenico Preston
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Jenico Preston 5th Baron Gormanston	Baron Gormanston 1940–present Member of the House of Lords (1940–1999)	Incumbent Heir apparent: Hon. Jenico Preston