Roland Gwynne
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| Roland Vaughan Gwynne | |
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46th Mayor of Eastbourne
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| In office 1928 – 1931 |
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| Preceded by | Alderman Miss A Hudson |
| Succeeded by | Mr Alderman L Maclachlan |
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| Born | 16 May 1882 |
| Died | 15 November 1971 Eastbourne |
| Nationality | British |
| Residence | Folkington Manor |
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Roland Vaughan Gwynne, DSO, DL (16 May 1882 - 15 November 1971) was Mayor of Eastbourne, England, from 1928 to 1931. He was also a patient, close friend and probable lover[1] of the suspected serial killer John Bodkin Adams.
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[edit] Childhood
Gwynne was born into a family of Irish descent, though, for reasons of prestige, he would later claim Welsh heritage, even going so far as to submit a false lineage to Burke's Peerage.[1] His mother, May, was 41 when he was born. He was the last of nine children (though two had died). Until the age of 13, he was dressed by his mother as a girl in frocks, with bows, necklaces and long ringlets.[1]
One brother Rupert was Member of Parliament for Eastbourne from 1910 until his death in 1924. His wife was Stella Ridley, daughter of the first Viscount Ridley and their daughter Elizabeth, became Elizabeth David CBE, the celebrated cook. One of Roland's sisters was the renowned harpsichordist Violet Gordon-Woodhouse.
[edit] Career
Though considered by his family a "dunderhead", he studied at Cambridge and became a Judge's Marshal. On 2 April 1904 he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Sussex Yeomanry[2] and made Lieutenant on 1 April 1908.[3]
The First World War broke out when Gwynne was 32. He was sent a white feather by a "friend of the family"[1] and in September 1916 he volunteered for active service and won the Distinguished Service Order in Flanders in 1917 while attached to the Queen's Royal Regiment, much to the surprise of his family. He was wounded twice, leaving him with a permanent limp.
On 8 April 1921 he was made a Deputy Lieutenant of Sussex.[4] In 1922 his mother died, leaving most of her money to Gwynne due to a family disagreement. That same year, Gwynne put his name forward as a Conservative candidate for Lewes, East Sussex, but withdrew it when his brother Neville hinted to the selection committee that Gwynne was a homosexual. John Bodkin Adams arrived in Eastbourne that same year.
Rupert died in 1924, just after being reelected to Parliament. Gwynne inherited his estate but, however, settled for local politics, becoming Mayor of Eastbourne in 1928.
On 9 November 1931 he was made the 8th ever Honorary Freeman of Eastbourne for his services to the borough.[5] In 1939 he was the Chairman of East Sussex County Council.[6]
He constantly had financial problems, caused on the one hand by his extravagant lifestyle (he was famous for the wild parties he held at Folkington Manor, attended by, among others, Freeman Freeman-Thomas, Viceroy of India and Rudyard Kipling) and on the other, by his sexuality, which made him a prime target for blackmail. Indeed, his butler Wilde was known by those close to him to be one such person extorting money from him.[7] After Gwynne's death, love letters from various local jockeys were found among his papers.[1]
During the Second World War he took to drink.
In 1947, burdened with debt, he was forced to rent out Folkington and move into the smaller Wootton Manor.
[edit] John Bodkin Adams
Gwynne never married but established a close friendship with Adams, a general practitioner, with whom he went on frequent shooting holidays to Scotland and Ireland. He would visit Adams every morning at 9 a.m.[1]
In 1956, Adams was arrested on suspicion of murdering two of his patients. Gwynne was Chairman of the Magistrates in Lewes, East Sussex, and had to step down from the committal hearing due to a conflict of interest. During the proceedings though, Gwynne was seen dining with Lord Chief Justice Rayner Goddard and former Attorney General Hartley Shawcross at a hotel in Lewes.[1] Goddard had by then already appointed the judge for Adams' case, Patrick Devlin. Later on, during the actual trial, while the jury was out discussing the verdict on Adams' first charge of murder, Goddard phoned Devlin to urge him in the case of Adams being found not guilty, to grant Adams bail before he was tried on a second count of murder. Devlin was surprised since a person accused of murder had never been given bail before in British legal history.[8] After their meeting at the hotel Gwynne crashed his car while driving home. He had not been drinking.
A month after the trial on May 10 1957, Goddard heard a contempt of court case against magazine Newsweek and the shop chain W. H. Smith, who on 1 April during Adams' trial had respectively published and distributed an issue of the magazine containing two paragraphs of material "highly prejudicial to the accused", saying that Adams' victim count could be "as high as 400". Each company was fined £50. Goddard made no mention of his conflict of interest[1].
On 12 February 1957[9], Gwynne was knighted just before Adams' trial began. Adams was eventually acquitted of one charge and the other was withdrawn controversially. Gwynne cooled his relationship with Adams and even admitted to police when interviewed in connection with the investigation into Adams, that he had given instructions to be buried in a lead-lined coffin. This unusual procedure was usually designed to protect the water table from contamination or to preserve evidence in case an exhumation might ever be necessary.
[edit] Post Adams
Gwynne fell into depression and in 1963 suffered a stroke. He was made a ward of the Court of Protection in 1965, which prevented him from controlling his own money and possessions.
He died on 15 November 1971 in a nursing home aged 89. His death certificate was signed by Dr. Adams. His last will left his estate to Sir Dingwall Bateson, who predeceased him.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Cullen, Pamela V., "A Stranger in Blood: The Case Files on Dr John Bodkin Adams", London, Elliott & Thompson, 2006, ISBN 1-904027-19-9
- ^ London Gazette
- ^ London Gazette
- ^ London Gazette
- ^ List of Freemen of Eastbourne
- ^ A History of East Sussex County Council, 1889-1974, Christopher Richard Vincent Bell, 1975, page 72
- ^ Cooper, Artemis (2000), Writing at the Kitchen Table, HarperCollins, p. 266, ISBN 0060198281
- ^ Devlin, Patrick; "Easing the Passing", 1985
- ^ London Gazette
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