Philip Russell Rendel Dunne

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Captain Philip Russell Rendel Dunne, MC (28 February 1904 – 13 April 1965) was an English soldier and politician. Lord of the Manor of Leinthall Earls.

He was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Marten Dunne (1864-1944), Liberal M.P. for Walsall (1906-1910), of Gatley Park, Leominster, Herefordshire, by his wife Hon. Grace Rendel (d.1952), J.P., third daughter and co-heiress of the only Lord Rendel of Hatchlands. Educated at Eton and RMC Sandhurst, Dunne joined the 11th Hussars in 1924, and served with the Royal Horse Guards from 1928 to 1932. He married firstly 29 April 1930 (dissolved by divorce 1944), Margaret Ann Walker, daughter of Thomas Hood Walker of Crosbie Tower, Troon, Ayrshire. They had two sons and a daughter:

• Sir Thomas Dunne, Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire, and the father of Philip Dunne M.P..
• Martin Dunne, Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire.
• Philippa Ann Dunne (The Countess Jellicoe), wife to George, 2nd Earl Jellicoe.

Elected Conservative (Unionist) M.P. in the 1935 general election for the Stalybridge and Hyde division of Cheshire, with a majority of 5,081 over Labour, he resigned in 1937 by becoming Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds.

In the Second World War Dunne was part of the White's Club group of the Layforce Commandos (Special Service Troop) in the Middle East, having sailed there in early 1941 on the boat with Evelyn Waugh, Randolph Churchill, George Jellicoe, David Stirling, etal. His Military Cross was awarded in 1943. He was Joint Master of the Warwickshire Hounds 1932–1935, and he was a member of White's, Turf and Jockey clubs.

He married a secondly 18 September 1945 Audrey Mary, daugter of Charles Ringham Simpson, of Ramsay St. Mary's, Huntingdonshire and widow of Bernard Rubin (d. 1936).

He died in 1965 at Brompton Hospital in London.

Major-General Sir Robert Laycock wrote:

'Bravery and gaiety are the first two words that spring to the minds of those of us who were Philip's friends and that must include all who knew him for his charm was inimitable. Some of that charm lay in the fact that personal ambition was wholly lacking in his character and, though everything he undertook in a diversity of fields he tackled with spectacular ability, the limelight was anathema to him. At Eton he won the Quarter Mile and was probably one of the best flies whoever played the Field because he thought it more worth while to play in the House side which, as Captain of Games, he led to victory in the House Cup. Being a born leader and a superb horseman he could have commanded The Blues, but he realized that the days of the horsed cavalry were over and, not being mechanically minded, he left the Army. In the Second World War he volunteered to join the Commandos on their inception and served with them with distinction. Being the bravest of the brave it is not surprising that he was decorated with the Military Cross for gallantry in the field. He was a superb leader and hero-worshipped by his subordinates but, because he admired the rank and file who served under him and wanted to get to grips with the enemy in the closest contact with them, he preferred to remain a Troop Leader rather than take a much higher command which was offered him. In the days of peace which followed he loved racing and was a succesful breeder and owner. He was made a member of the Jockey Club and the racing world will miss him as sadly as do all of us to whom his loyalty, courage, optimism and friendship are irreplaceable' (from The Times, 21 April 1965).

The last paragraph of the last diary of Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) written on Easter Day 1965 read:

'On Maudy Thursday appeared a notice in the paper under the heading 'Death of Former Unionist MP'. I did not recognise this as Phil Dunne until Christopher Sykes told me on Saturday. He was my age. I last saw him just before Christmas, elegant gay, and I thought how little he had aged compared with myself. He was completely selfish without an element of conceit or self-assertion, debonair, never boring, never morose; a finely controlled tempation to malice; chivalrous, with a sense of private honour uncommon nowadays. Though I saw him seldom in late years, a deeply valued friend whom I shall miss bitterly', (from The Diaries of Evelyn Waugh, p.793).

[edit] References

• The Times, Obituary April 15 1965 (page 14), and April 21 1965 (page 12).
• Kelly's Handbook, To the Titled, Landed, and Official Classes 1962.
• The Diaries of Evelyn Waugh, edited by Michael Davie, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1976.
• His Father's son, The Life of Randolph Churchill, by Winston S. Churchill, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1996 (page 183).

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sydney Hope	Member of Parliament for Stalybridge and Hyde 1935–1937	Succeeded by Horace Trevor-Cox