Quick Facts
Biography
Sir Edward Humphry Tyrrell Wakefield, 2nd Baronet FRGS, (born 11 July 1936) is an English baronet and expert on antiques and architecture.
Wakefield has made his career a study of antique furniture and historic restoration. He worked for Christie's of London, and subsequently became director and chairman of antique-dealing firms. In 1982 he bought Chillingham Castle, Northumberland, from the Grey family, of Northumberland, the family of his third wife Catherine, daughter of Lady Mary Grey. He has since restored the ruined castle to a habitable state to house his wide collection of antiquities, from his own collection and those of his relations.
Early life
Wakefield is the elder son of the politician Edward Birkbeck Wakefield, later created a baronet, by his wife (Constance) Lalage Thompson, the second child of Sir John Perronet Thompson, a nephew of the first Baron Wakefield of Kendal.
He was educated at Gordonstoun School and Trinity College, Cambridge.
Career
After leaving Cambridge, Wakefield was commissioned into the 10th Royal Hussars and retired from the army with the rank of Captain. He was a Director of Mallett & Son (Antiques) Ltd, from 1971 to 1978 and Executive Vice-President of Mallett America Ltd from 1970 to 1975. He was then Chairman of Tyrrell & Moore Ltd from 1978 to 1992. He joined the New Zealand Everest Team in 1990 and was a member of Norman D. Vaughan's Antarctic Expedition of 1993.
He has been a Director of the Tree of Life Foundation since 1976 and Chairman of the Wilderness Trust since 1999. He is also President of the Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team, the Avison Trust, and the Tibetan Spaniel Association. He was a Director of the Spoleto Festival of the Two Worlds (United States and Italy) from 1973 to 1980 and is a Fellow of the Pierpont Morgan Library and the Royal Geographical Society. He is a Life Member of the Scott-Polar Institute and the Harlequins Rugby Football Club.
He is also a Member of the Standing Council of Baronetage and of the Society of Dilettante, the Beefsteak, Cavalry and Guards, and Turf Clubs.
Marriages and children
Wakefield's first wife was Priscilla Bagot (b. 1939), eldest daughter of Oliver Robin Gaskell, later Bagot (himself nephew and heir of Sir Alan Desmond Bagot, 1st and last Baronet and Annette Dorothy Stephens), whom he married on 17 September 1960 and divorced in 1964. There were no children of this marriage.
He married secondly on 1 July 1966 (divorced 1971) Hon. Elizabeth Sophia Sidney (b. 12 March 1941) daughter of William Philip Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle, V.C., and former wife of George Silver Oliver Annesley Colthurst (by whom one daughter, now wife of Crispin Money-Coutts, 9th Lord Latymer). They had one son, the present heir apparent to the baronetcy.
In December 1974 Wakefield married thirdly the Hon. Katherine Mary Alice Baring (b. 30 March 1936), elder daughter of Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron Howick of Glendale and his wife Lady Mary Cecil Grey (died 2002), elder daughter of Charles Robert Grey, 5th Earl Grey. They have one son and one daughter; another son died shortly after birth.
- Captain Maximilian Edward Vereker Wakefield (born 22 February 1967), a racing driver married 1994 Lucinda Katharine Elizabeth Pipe, a daughter of Lt-Colonel and Mrs David Pipe, and has two children
- William Wavell Wakefield (born 1998)
- Edward Gort Wakefield (born 2000)
- William Wakefield (born & died 1975)
- Mary Elizabeth Lalage Wakefield (born 1975), married December 2011 Dominic Cummings
- Jack Humphry Baring Wakefield (born 1977)
The heir apparent is Wakefield's eldest son, Maximilian.