User:Kaliforniyka/Vere Hobart-Hampden, 9th Earl of Buckinghamshire

Vere Frederick Cecil Hobart-Hampden, 9th Earl of Buckinghamshire (17 May 1901 – 19 April 1983), known as Vic Hampden, was an English worker and Labour peer. He worked a series of menial jobs before and after succeeding to the earldom at aged 62, as his predecessor his second cousin (wealthy Tory peer) did not leave him any inheritance. It took more than four year for him to be seated in the House of Lords. and 14th baronet and 9th Baron Hobart.

Early life and education

He was born in Sydenham, London, England, the son of civil engineer Arthur Ernest Hobart-Hampden and his first wife, Henrietta Louisa Fetherstonhaugh. His grandfather the Hon. Charles Edward Hobart-Hampden was the fourth son of the sixth earl. and his first wife, Lucy Pauline Wright, daughter of John Wright and niece of Francis Wright of Lenton Hall, Nottinghamshire.

He was educated at St Lawrence College, Ramsgate and in Lausanne. He earned a degree from Exeter University.

He had an elder brother Arthur Edward Orme Hobart-Hampden (8 November 1893 9 April 1950) served in the Royal Air Force pianist and cinema organist

married Gladys daughter of Arthur David Mitchell and sisters Aileen Mara Lorna (8 April 1895 - 30 July 1936 Lucy Sybil (18 January 1898 - married William Terence Webb McCarthy

His father married secondly 1920 Cecila Grace died 1929 daughter of Sir Arthur Blackwood KCB, secretary to the General Post Office, grandson of Sir Henry Blackwood married thirdly Bessie Stephenson died 18 June 1952

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The eighth Earl's extensive farms and woodlands were left to a discretionary trust in favor of other members of the family.

was living with his sister-in-law at Castleton road, Thorpe Bay, Southend-on-Sea, Essex- with title 3,500 acre estate in Preston Bissett

nephew for 20 years cushing.

12 years for Southend Corporation in Essex working £10 a week (equivalent to £264 in 2023) and in the summers as a putting green in Shoeburyness. Member of the General and Municipal Workers' Union.

and £4 a day (equivalent to £94 in 2023)

planned to become a Tory . "I'll be happy to go on as I am." "The money I can make out of the title will keep me in my old age"

Little Hampden Lodge 5,000 acre estate near Great Missenden

531k will (equivalent to £14,045,000 in 2023) May 1967 sit in House of Lords Crown Office sit in the Lords trace his ancestry degree Exeter University "gentleman jackaroo"

The new Earl of Buckinghamshire, formerly Mr. Vere Frederick Cecil Hobart Hampden, a corporation gardener, learned officially yesterday that he was not included in the will of the eighth Earl, who died on January 2, aged 56. Mr. Roger Parker-Jervis, one of the three people to whom the estate has been granted, said: “The late Earl knew that his cousin would inherit the title, but he did not know him. He was a very distant relation and the late Earl had many closer ones."

The earl goes back as a gardener A LEISURELY life has not suited the new Earl of Buckinghamshire., who in- herited his title five mon ago when he was work as a Southend Corporat gardener. When he succeeded he left his )W he has re Corporation as gard the Westcliff High Scho for Bovs. ed the He leaves home soon a 6 am. each morning make two bus '&:)umeys the school, ere begins at seve work IHe puts in a 42-hour week, as he did when he was Mr. Frederick Hobart-Hampden. The earl tells his friends that he is only doing the jc temporarily until he taki his seat in the H 1. ords e of

Work life

cousin Bertie Bucks

In 1919 he left Britain for Australia where he worked on a sheep station in Queensland. When the Second World War broke out he joined the Royal Australian Air Force and 1939-1948 served in flying boats ferrying Japanese prisoners of war. After demobilization he was employed on Queensland Railways collecting tickets, working in parcel dispatch and learning about shunting.

Coming back to this country in 1949 he worked for many years for Southend Corporation's Parks Department as a gardener and putting green attendant, and it was on his return home after a day helping to sweep snow from the streets during the severe January of 1963 that he discovered that his kinsman, the 8th Earl, had died and that he had succeeded to the title. However he did not succeed to the 8th Earl's extensive woodlands and agri- cultural lands which had been left to a discretionary trust in favour of other members of the family in the previous year, nor did he inherit any money. The new 9th Earl resigned his employment with Southend Corporation on succeeding to the title but tired of inactivity within six months and wert back to work forthe council as a playground attendant in June of that vear. It was not until May 1967 that he was able to take his seat in the House of Lords which he did on the Labour benches, having established his right to sit with the Crown Office. He married, in 1972, Margot Macrae, the widow of F. C. Bruce Hittmann, FRACS, of Sydney. There were no children. His wife survives him. His kinsman, Miles Hobart- Hampden, succeeds to the title. THE EARL OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE

The new Lord Buckinghamshire, who is an employee of Southend Corporation parks department, did not go to work yesterday. Mr. Vere Frederick Cecil Hobart-Hamp- den, aged 61, who succeeded to the title on the death of the eighth Earl on Wednes- day, was due to report for snow-clearing at Thorpe Bay, Essex, but Mr. K. McCreadie. the iparks superintendent, called at his home in Castleton Road, Southend, yester- day and told him not to bother about going to work. The new peer said on Wednesday: "I suppose I shall be the last Earl of Bucking- hamshire. I have no intention of marrying at my age." But yesterday Mr. Mark Elvins, assistant editor of Debrett's Peerage, said the heir presumptive to the title was the new Lord Buckinghamshire's second cousin, Mr. Cyril Landel Hobart-Hampden aged 60, whose address was given as c/o The Eastern Bank Ltd. Crosby Square, Bishopsgate, E.C. Less than a year before his death the eighth Earl gave his woodlands and a large part of the village of Ham pden and its neighbouring agricultural land to a discre- tionary trust in favour of a large class of members of his family it was learned yesterday. He owned about 5,000 acres in Buckinghamshire, including 1,500 acres of beechwood at Hampden. and he wanted 'he Hampden woodlands to be preserved. He farmed 900 acres at the time of 'his death, and this, together with land which he bought near Poundon and Charndon in 1959 and 1960, was not included in the trust and win come under the terms of his will. which are not yet known.

House of Lords

ENTRY in the 1966 edition of ‘‘ Buckinghamshire, Earl of. Vere Frederick Cecil Hobart- ‘Hampden, 9th Earl and 13th Baronet; b. May 17, 1901. Resi- Bay, Essex. Goodness me, a real Earl. Copper- _ proof repeated, no less, in Who’s Who, which adds another “Employe qd by Southend Corporation.” I will tell you that this ninth Earl is a council workman. Now what fascinating views have we been having ‘from this artisan Earl in the House of Lords Since he inherited the title in 1963 ? The answer: None at all, and this is why. The present Earl of Buckinghamshire has so far not been allowed to sit in the House of Lords (and incidentally draw a maximum of 6d. for each daily attendance). The Crown Office at the House of Lords says he has to “reasonably prove to the Lord Chancellor that he is the Earl.” Strange, isn’t it, that Debrett accepts him, but not lordships. aay 4 fhe Earl of Buckinghamshire tells me: “I think it is a lot of rot. I mean to say, I have got the title and that’s it. Having to go through all this rigmarole makes me feel like a criminal.” he Crown Office adds: “There is no doubt that he is the Earl, but the fact has to be proved with some evidence. ‘2 ae not regard the Lords very seriously. But. the oy over letting this chap in makes the whole even more farcical

He was listed in Debrett's Peerage of 1966

Personal life

Gladys Cusworth

Cusworth

Elena, Lady Aylwen, widow of Lord Mayor of London Sir George Aylwen married Park Lane, Mayfair, "a unique and totally unspoilt man"

He married quietly in London 9 August 1972, at aged 71, Margot Macrae Hittman (5 May 1907 – 11 October 2001) daughter of John Storey Rodger and widow of Australian surgeon Frederick Cecil Bruce Hittman FRACS.

He was buried at Blickling, Norfolk, near Blickling Hall, the ancestral home of the Hobart family, built by Sir Henry Hobart, 1st Baronet (1560–1625), the great-great-grandfather of the John Hobart, 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire.

External links

• Kaliforniyka/Vere Hobart-Hampden, 9th Earl of Buckinghamshire at Find a Grave