Wensley Haydon-Baillie

Wensley Haydon-Baillie

Wensley Haydon-Baillie, the son of a surgeon from Worksop, Nottinghamshire, was once one of the 50 richest men in the UK[1] after working his way up in the pharmaceutical industry. A company he invested in, Porton International, sold at high prices when it seemed it had a cure for herpes. It collapsed when it turned out it did not and the company wound up selling at a discounted price to Ipsen Pharmaceutical. He owned a collection of Rolls-Royces and an aviation museum housing and restoring many Spitfires.[2] He also owned Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire[3] – one of the largest private homes in Europe with 365 rooms. In the 1980s, he invested millions in a firm that claimed to have a cure for herpes[4] but it never materialised and in 1998 he admitted to debts of £13m.[5] In 1994, Wensley Haydon-Baillie married Samantha Acland, a secretary. Prince Michael of Kent was best man.[1] He is the current owner of the two largest passenger hovercraft in the world, the SRN4s,[6] and also one of the fastest boats in the world, the Brave Challenger.[7]

Wensley Haydon-Baillie is also one of the few surviving descendants of Jeremiah Coghlan the heroic Royal Navy officer .

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "thisismoney.co.uk". Retrieved 2010-04-07.
  2. ↑ "Touchdown Aviation". Retrieved 2010-04-07.
  3. ↑ Wainwright, Martin (1999-02-27). "guardian.co.uk". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2010-04-07.
  4. ↑ "Porton International". PMC 1663035.
  5. ↑ "The mansion of mystery and malice". The Times (London). 2007-02-11. Retrieved 2010-04-07.
  6. ↑ "Hovercraft museum's future in doubt". The News. Retrieved 2010-04-08.
  7. ↑ "Payout for boat damage caused by Spinnaker Tower building work". The News. Retrieved 2010-04-12.