Jump to content

Richard Parker, 9th Earl of Macclesfield

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Earl of Macclesfield
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
as a hereditary peer
7 December 1992 – 11 November 1999
Preceded byThe 8th Earl of Macclesfield
Succeeded bySeat abolished[a]
Personal details
Born
Richard Timothy George Mansfield Parker

(1943-05-31) 31 May 1943 (age 81)
Political partyCrossbench
Spouse(s)
Tatiana Cleone Anne Wheaton-Smith
(m. 1967; div. 1985)

Sandra Hope Fiore
(after 1986)
Parent(s)George Parker, 8th Earl of Macclesfield
Valerie Mansfield
Shirburn Castle

Richard Timothy George Mansfield Parker, 9th Earl of Macclesfield (born 31 May 1943), is a British hereditary peer. He was a member of the House of Lords from 1992 until 1999.

Early life

[edit]

The son of George Parker, 8th Earl of Macclesfield, and his wife Valerie Mansfield, he was educated at Stowe School and Worcester College, Oxford.[1]

Career

[edit]

On 7 December 1992 he succeeded his father in his titles.[1]

Shirburn Castle

[edit]

Macclesfield was the last of the Parker family to live at Shirburn Castle, from which he was evicted in 2005 by other members of a family company which owned the property. They contended in court that he was "no more than tenant at will".[2][3] However, the contents of the castle had been given to Macclesfield in 1967 by his grandfather, including three important libraries.[4]

Macclesfield then decided to sell the libraries and some other items from the castle,[5][6] including the Macclesfield Psalter, now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, and the Macclesfield Alphabet Book, now in the British Library.[7] The receipts came to more than £16 million, "the highest total ever for any sale of scientific books and manuscripts".[8] A painting by George Stubbs, "Brood Mares and Foals", was sold at auction in 2010 for £10,121,250, a record price for Stubbs.[9]

Personal life

[edit]

On 11 August 1967 he married firstly Tatiana Cleone Anne Wheaton-Smith, daughter of Major Craig Wheaton-Smith. They were divorced in 1985, and in 1986 he married Sandra Hope Fiore. By his first wife he has three daughters:[1]

  • Lady Tanya Susan (born 1971)
  • Lady Katherine Anne (born 1973)
  • Lady Marion Jane (born 1973)

As he has no male issue, the heir presumptive is his younger brother, the Hon. (Jonathan) David Geoffrey Parker (born 1945).

Notes

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Burkes Peerage, volume 2 (2003), p. 2456.
  2. ^ Neutral Citation Number: [2003] EWHC 1846 (Ch) (archived version), accessed 18 December 2021.
  3. ^ Godfrey Barker: Who's laughing now? London Evening Standard, 18 August 2004.
  4. ^ Paul Quarrie, Paul, "The scientific library of the earls of Macclesfield" in The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science 60:1 (2006), pp. 5–24, doi:10.1098/rsnr.2005.0124.
  5. ^ Carol Vogel, Inside Art: "From an Earl's Attic" The New York Times, 20 February 2004.
  6. ^ Sothebys, 2004: Sales Results: The Library of The Earl of Macclesfield Removed from Shirburn Castle Part Two: Science A-C
  7. ^ R. Gaskell, P. Fara, Selling the silver: country house libraries and the history of science. Endeavour 29:1 (2005), pp. 14–19, doi:10.1016/j.endeavour.2005.01.005.
  8. ^ Sotheby's, press release, 26 October 2005: The Scientific Library of The Earls of Macclesfield Realises Over £14 Million
  9. ^ Sotheby's Press Release: Sotheby’s Evening Sale of Old Master & British Paintings Realises £23,577,600 / $37,054,556 / €28,179,870. 8 December 2010.
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by Earl of Macclesfield
1992–present
Member of the House of Lords
(1992–1999)
Incumbent
Heir presumptive:
Hon. David Parker
Baron Parker
1992–present