The most celebrated eccentric of the 20th century was undoubtedly Lord Berners. His quirkiness however, may have just been a wicked sense of humour.
Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson was born at Apley Hall in Shropshire in 1883. He inherited a title, the 14th Baron Berners on the death of an uncle in 1918. He also received property and money including Faringdon House in Oxfordshire. He claimed to have gained the title because “a whole row of Tyrwhitts fell off a bridge” or alternatively “they fell under a bus on the way to a family funeral”
At first Lord Berners’ mother and stepfather moved into the property. I wasn’t until after their deaths in 1931 that he moved to Oxfordshire with his lover Robert Heber-Percy who was just 20 years old and known as "mad boy".
As a small boy Gerald had a sense of mischief. Having been shut in a cupboard as a punishment, he retaliated by locking all of the lavatories and throwing the keys into a pond. He was sent to boarding school at the age of nine and it was here that he began to explore his sexuality, An involvement with an older pupil ended when Gerald vomited over him. His education was completed at Eton.
He twice failed the entrance examination for the diplomatic service but was sent nonetheless as an honourary attache first to Constantinople and later to Rome and Paris.
He was highly accomplished as an artist, writer, and musician. Stravinski himself claimed that Berners was the only important English composer of that time. He was commissioned by Diaghilev to write the score for his ballet, “The Triumph of Neptune”. He composed many more works including ballet scores, operas and film scores.
Faringdon became the centre of a fashionable social circle. The guest list included Aldous Huxley, H G Wells, Salvador Dali, Gertrude Stein, Nancy Mitford, Cecil Beaton, and Evelyn Waugh.
It’s for his eccentricities that Lord Berners is remembered. As a boy he heard that a dog would quickly learn to swim if thrown into water. He tried throwing his mother’s dog out of the window, hoping that it would similarly learn to fly. The experiment was unsuccessful although the animal was unharmed.
At Faringdon there was a flock of pigeons. Every Easter Sunday these were freshly died, pink, blue and gold and dried in the linen cupboard before being set free to fly around the neighbourhood.
A colour theme was sometimes chosen for lunch and everything served would be of a particular hue. Stravinsky’s wife even sent a powder which would colour mayonnaise blue.
A giraffe was kept as a pet and might be invited indoors for tea.
Equine guests were not uncommon. When John Betjemen and his wife received an invitation to tea, it included their horse Moti which was photographed in the drawing room drinking tea from its mistresses saucer.Hearing that Penelope Chetwood and her arab stallion were inseparable, both were invited to tea. They both sat for a portrait afterwards.
Berners would often tease people especially those whom he disliked. Sybil Colefax was known as a social climber and was sent an enticing invitation which suggested that the only guests would be Churchill, George Bernard Shaw, Toscanini and herself. The cruel twist lay in the indecipherable signature and address. The calling cards of his visitors were always saved. When his house in Rome was lent to some friends for a holiday, he selected the cards of the most notorious bores. His butler in Rome was instructed to present two of these cards each day. The unfortunate guests spent much of their holiday avoiding imaginary callers.
A favourite trick was to drive out wearing a pig’s mask in order to scare the locals. Berners only once attended the House of Lords. He never returned because he claimed “a bishop stole my umbrella”. A number of whippets were kept at Faringdon and they always wore pearl necklaces. If one should be lost, a replacement would simply be produced from the safe.
In 1935, a folly was built at Faringdon, a 140 foot tower to Berner’s own design. He explained that “the great point of the tower is that it will be entirely useless”. At the foot of the tower a notice warned: “Members of the public committing suicide from this tower do so at their own risk”. The folly was presented as a birthday gift to Robert Heber-Percy.
Other curious notices were to be found around the estate: “It is requested that all hats be removed”, “Dogs will be shot, cats will be whipped”, “mangling done here”.
Portraits of Robert Heber-Percy painted by Lord Berners
Heber-Percy himself was regarded as a fellow eccentric. He ran an undertakers business and enjoyed their annual conferences for their wealth of good stories. He surprised everybody when in 1942, he married Jennifer Fry. She was already pregnant and the daughter Victoria was born the following year. They continued to live at Faringdon but the marriage did not last.
Shortly before his death in 1950, Lord Berners wrote his will leaving the estate to Robert. He continued to live there until his death in 1987, maintaining and enhancing the house and grounds.
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