Michael Brudenell-Bruce, 8th Marquess of Ailesbury

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The Most Honourable
The Marquess of Ailesbury
Born(1926-03-31)31 March 1926
Hungerford, Berkshire, England
Died12 May 2024(2024-05-12) (aged 98)
London, England
NationalityBritish
EducationEton College
Occupations
Spouses
  • Edwina Sylvia de Winton-Wills
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1952; div. 1961)​
  • Juliet Adrienne Lethbridge Kingsford
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1963; div. 1974)​
  • Caroline Elizabeth Wethered
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1974; div. 1992)​
Children5, including David
Parents
Military career
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1945–1959
Rank Captain
UnitRoyal Horse Guards

Michael Sydney Cedric Brudenell-Bruce, 8th Marquess of Ailesbury (31 March 1926 – 12 May 2024), styled Viscount Savernake until 1961 and Earl of Cardigan between 1961 and 1974, was a Scottish peer.

Biography[edit]

The Marquess was born the son of Cedric Brudenell-Bruce, 7th Marquess of Ailesbury by his wife, Joan Houlton Salter, the daughter of the architect Stephen Salter. He attended Eton College before serving in the Royal Horse Guards. He received an emergency commission as a second lieutenant on 12 August 1945, only three weeks before the end of the Second World War.[1] He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 September 1946,[2] and entered the reserves with the same rank on 1 September 1949, with the honorary rank of captain.[3] He relinquished his reserve commission on 1 July 1959, retaining the honorary rank of captain.[4]

In 1954, he became a member of the London Stock Exchange. He joined the stockbrokers Bragg, Stockdale, Hall & Co, founded in 1819, in the City of London, which merged with Fiske & Co in 1975 and he became a partner of Fiske.[5] He became a director of Fiske & Co when it became a limited company, and remained so when it went public as Fiske plc.[6]

On 15 July 1974, he succeeded his father as 8th Marquess upon his death.

The family seat was Tottenham House, in Savernake Forest, Wiltshire, but they ceased to live there in 1946 when it became Hawtreys school. The Marquess owned Avebury Manor, also in Wiltshire, from 1976[7] to 1981.[8]

Death[edit]

The 8th Marquess of Ailesbury died at his home in the Shepherd's Bush area of London, on 12 May 2024, at the age of 98. He fell from his bedroom window and hit his head, after reportedly trying to let his cat out.[9]

Marriages and issue[edit]

The Marquess was married three times. His first wife, Edwina Sylvia de Winton-Wills (1933-2023), was the daughter of Lt. Col. Sir Ernest Edward de Winton-Wills, 4th Baronet Wills of Hazelwood, of the W.D. & H.O. Wills tobacco company, by his wife Sylvia Margaret Ogden. They were married on 17 March 1952 and were divorced in 1961. They had three children:

Edwina married secondly Major Christopher Bonn with whom she had four further children.

On 10 July 1963, the Marquess married a second time, to Juliet Adrienne Lethbridge Kingsford, daughter of Edward Hilary Lethbridge Kingsford. The couple divorced in 1974 after having two children:

  • Lady Louise Brudenell-Bruce (born 1964), and
  • Lady Kathryn Juliet Brudenell-Bruce (born 1965).

On 18 September 1974, shortly after his second divorce, he married for the third time. The bride, Caroline Elizabeth Wethered, was the daughter of Commander Owen Francis MacTier Wethered. They had no children, and although this was the longest-lasting of his marriages, the couple divorced in 1992.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "No. 37288". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 September 1945. p. 4844.
  2. ^ "No. 37788". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 November 1946. p. 5611.
  3. ^ "No. 38710". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 September 1949. p. 4385.
  4. ^ "No. 42643". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 April 1962. p. 2921.
  5. ^ http://www.burkespeerage.com/record_to_view.php?book=Burke's Peerage 107th Edition&ref=107th&totalPages=4689&page=187
  6. ^ 'Stockbroking merger', The Times. 17 October 1975
  7. ^ Baggs, A. P.; Freeman, Jane; Stevenson, Janet H. (1983). "Parishes: Avebury". In Crowley, D. A. (ed.). A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 12. Victoria County History. University of London. pp. 86–105. Retrieved 8 August 2021 – via British History Online.
  8. ^ "Avebury Manor Timeline". Avebury Manor and Gardens. 28 July 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  9. ^ Jolly, Bradley (14 May 2024). "Prince Harry's model ex suffers heartbreak as her relative falls to his death". The Mirror. Retrieved 15 May 2024.

Sources[edit]

  • thePeerage.com
  • 'AILESBURY', Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007

External links[edit]

Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Marquess of Ailesbury
1974–2024 		Succeeded by
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