User:Wikibiohistory/Sandbox4/Benson family

This family, Benson of Stanway, includes the art collector and patron Robert Henry Benson, his son Sir Rex Benson, and Constantine_Walter_Benson (1909-1982), apparently Robert's nephew. Their connection to the Whig place-holder William Benson or the Archbishop of Canterbury is not clear.

Robert Henry Benson (1850-1929)

Robert Henry Benson (1850-1929), of the landed gentry family Benson of Stanway, was a patron of the artist John Singer Sargent and the newly formed National Portrait Gallery.

He married circa 1886 Evelyn Holford, herself closely related to the earls of Crawford & Balcarres and other aristocrats. Evelyn Benson's two sisters married the Earl of Morley and the Earl Grey respectively).

His eldest son, Guy Holford Benson (1888-1975) married 1921 Violet, Lady Elcho, widow of Lord Elcho, and a daughter of Violet Manners, Duchess of Rutland; she was already mother of two sons, the future Earl of Wemyss and the future Lord Charteris of Amisfield. His other children were, Reginald (Rex), Constantine, Rosalind and Margaret.

His daughter Margaret Winifred Benson was married to Major General Sir Hereward Wake, 13th Bt..

Sir Christopher Benson, formerly High Sheriff of Wiltshire, may be his great-grandson.

Rex Benson

Lieutenant-General Sir Rex Benson was a British financier, who retired as Chairman of Robert Benson Lonsdale, later Kleinwort Benson, in 1959. The firm traced its origins to Rathbone & Benson, a Liverpool business trading mainly with America, founded by his ancestor Robert Benson, a Quaker, and William Rathbone IV of the existing house of William Rathbone & Co. This firm, after various vicissitudes, merged in 1961 with another firm Kleinwort, Sons & Co., and lasted another 34 years, until being acquired by Dresdner Bank.

Benson was apparently a financier of British polo.

Constantine Benson (d. 20 September 1960)

Constantine Evelyn Benson (d. 20 September 1960) was a son of Robert Henry Benson. He was styled Air Commodore in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, and gained the rank of Captain during the First World War. He was invested as a Commander, Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.) on _____, and was decorated with the Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.) in ______.

In 1925, he was Captain Constantine Evelyn Benson CBE, DSO, and a director of Lloyd's Bank.

Air Commodore Constantine Evelyn Benson, , married on 29 June 1921, Lady Morvyth Lillian Ward (d. 1959) a daughter of William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley. They had issue, including

• Gillian Benson (d. 2003), later Lady Tompkins, who married 1955 Sir Edward Tompkins, a rising British diplomat.

In 1925, Constantine Benson bought Burgh House for £4,750. He built the present music room on the site of Dr. Williamson's library.

In 1934, Constantine and Lady Morvyth Benson bought Shawford Park from Mabel Morrison, widow of Alfred Morrison of Fonthill. The house was requisitioned during the war, and sold by the Bensons in 1945.

In 1934 Shawford Park was bought by Constantine Benson. His wife, who was the daughter of the 2nd Earl of Dudley, is remembered for the tremendous parties she gave, including an annual party for the estate workers and local suppliers. During the war the house was requisitioned as a maternity hospital; polite strangers occasionally appear asking to see the house where they were born.

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Constantine Walter Benson

Constantine Walter Benson OBE (1909-1982) was a British ornithologist. He is considered the last of a line of British Colonial officials who made significant contributions to ornithology. He was made OBE in 1965.

Sir Christopher Benson

High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 2002-2003, his wife Jo (called Lady Jo Benson in the press) was Mayor of Salisbury

Sources

• "Robert Henry Benson"

The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, Vol. 54, No. 314 (May, 1929), pp. 275-276.