John Hervey, 7th Marquess of Bristol

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For other persons named John Hervey, see John Hervey (disambiguation).
For other persons named Frederick Hervey, see Frederick Hervey (disambiguation).

Frederick William John Augustus Hervey, 7th Marquess of Bristol (15 September 1954 – 10 January 1999) succeeded his father, Victor Hervey, the 6th Marquess.

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[edit] Family

He was the only child of his father's first marriage, to Pauline Bolton; his parents divorced when he was five years old. He was half-brother to Lord Nicholas Hervey by his father's second marriage, to Lady Anne Juliet Dorothea Maud Wentworth, only child of Peter Wentworth-FitzWilliam, 8th Earl FitzWilliam. This marriage also ended; his father lastly married his secretary, Yvonne Marie Sutton, when John was 20 [1], giving him three more half-siblings, the incumbent Frederick Hervey, 8th Marquess of Bristol, and socialites Lady Victoria Hervey and Lady Isabella Hervey. Just shy of 30, he married Francesca Fisher, then 20[2]. The marriage lasted for four years; they had no children.

Lord Bristol was a harsh father to his oldest son, according to friends of the latter. "He treated his son and heir with indifference and contempt," said Anthony Haden-Guest. The Marquess of Blandford summed up the relationship: "Victor created the monster that John became."[2]

[edit] Life

Lord Bristol was educated at Harrow School, where he began to be known for drug and alcohol use; the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography designates him a "wastrel".[3] The 7th Marquess was described by his friend Jamie Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of Blandford, as a "complicated, reserved character, hiding behind a flamboyant personality".[citation needed]

He was frequently depicted in the British tabloids for his drug use, wild parties and homosexuality. He served two prison terms for drug offenses.[4] Bristol even piloted his helicopter — without radar — while snorting cocaine off the map he was using for navigation. He claimed to have used over 2000 male prostitutes, whom he referred to as twinkies. The Marquess blamed some of his difficulties on what he called bad blood, that is, a "family disposition to depression." He inherited a million pounds when he was 16 years old, and another four million five years later.[2] He amassed a personal fortune worth up to £35 million, but by the time of his death at 44, it had "all slipped through his fingers — every last penny", according to The Times.[4]

[edit] Final years and death

Lord Bristol sold the remaining lease on the ancestral home of Ickworth House back to the National Trust in 1998 in lieu of their evicting him for bad behaviour, and died the following year at the age of 44. He was succeeded by his half-brother Frederick William Augustus Hervey, 8th Marquess of Bristol (born 19 October 1979). Another half-brother, Lord Nicholas Hervey, had committed suicide the previous year.

[edit] Legacy

The Spectator describes the 7th Marquess thusly:

Born with an inheritance which included millions of money, thousands of acres, and oodles of style at Ickworth, the family seat, this flamboyant homosexual, charming but empty of soul, allowed himself to sink into a brain-mincing addiction to heroin and cocaine. Before the end he could not pass two hours without a snort, was frequently in prison, and was reduced to penury.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Observer Magazine, 22 January 2006)
  2. ^ a b c "The end of the peer" by Anthony Haden-Guest
  3. ^ [1] or if this link doesn't work for you, look at the Dictionary of National Biography itself, a reputable reference work
  4. ^ a b Times Online: Junkie marquess died penniless after spending millions on drugs
  5. ^ "Bats in the family belfry"

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Victor Hervey		 Marquess of Bristol
1985–1999		 Succeeded by
Frederick Hervey