John Skeffington, 14th Viscount Massereene
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John David Clotworthy Whyte-Melville Foster Skeffington, 14th Viscount Massereene and 7th Viscount Ferrard (born 3 June 1940) is a British peer. He succeeded his father in 1992 and regularly attended the House of Lords until reform of the House of Lords resulted in the removal of most hereditary peers from the chamber in 1999.
Educated at Millfield and the Institute Monte Rosa, he served in the Grenadier Guards regiment 1958 - 1961. He is a major landowner, holds various directorships, and is a stockbroker with M.D.Barnard & Co; member of the London Stock Exchange 1961 - 1964, and from 1970 to the present. He married in 1970, Ann Denise, daughter of the late Norman Rowlandson. They have one son (and heir), Charles, and one daughter.
Lord Massereene oversaw the sale of Chilham Castle, the family's old home; it was originally put on the market in 1994, but was only sold (for a substantially lower sum of money) in 1996. Mick Jagger considered buying the castle, as (reportedly) did Bob Geldof, but both decided against.
Like his father, he is President of the Conservative Monday Club, and patron of Right Now! magazine edited by Derek Turner. According to an article by Johann Hari in the New Statesman on December 10, 2001, Lord Massereene is quoted as saying, "If you say I am a racist, yes I certainly am, and proud of it."
He participated on the council of the Freedom Association and was a signatory to "The Sanity Petition" ("Sanity" is an acronym for "Subjects Against the NIce TreatY" [sic]) [1] as "Baron Oriel".
[edit] External links
- Johann Hari, "[2]", New Statesman, December 10, 2001.
- The Silent Majority UK
- The Sanity Petition, May 28, 2001.
[edit] Sources
The Times and Sunday Times online archives
