Thomas Pakenham (historian)
Elizabeth Harman
Thomas Francis Dermot Pakenham, 8th Earl of Longford (born 14 August 1933), known simply as Thomas Pakenham, is an Anglo-Irish historian and arborist who has written several prize-winning books on the diverse subjects of African history, Victorian and post-Victorian British history, and trees.
Background
Pakenham is the eldest son of the 7th Earl of Longford, a Labour government minister, and the author Elizabeth Longford.[1]
He has seven siblings, among them the award-winning historian and biographer Lady Antonia Fraser (who is the widow of playwright Harold Pinter); Lady Rachel Billington, also a writer (and the widow of the director Kevin Billington); Lady Judith Kazantzis, a poet; and The Hon. Kevin Pakenham,[2] who worked in the City of London. He is also a cousin of the former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman.
Thomas Pakenham does not use his title of Earl of Longford and before succeeding his father did not use his courtesy title. However, he has not disclaimed his British titles of Baron Silchester and Baron Pakenham under the Peerage Act 1963, and his Irish earldom cannot be disclaimed, as it is not covered by the Act.
Following the House of Lords Act 1999 he is not entitled, as a hereditary peer, to sit in the House of Lords. His father was created a life peer in addition to his hereditary titles in order to be able to retain his seat in the upper house.
Family
In 1964 Pakenham married Valerie Susan McNair Scott, daughter of Major Ronald Guthrie McNair Scott and the Hon. Mary Cecilia Berry, daughter of William Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose. They have four children:[1]
- Lady Anna Maria Pakenham, b. 26 July 1965
- Lady Eliza Pakenham, b. 3 November 1966
- Edward Melchior Pakenham, Lord Silchester, b. 6 January 1970. Lord Silchester is usually known as Ned Silchester or Ned Pakenham
- The Hon. Frederick Augustus Pakenham, b. 27 November 1971
Valerie Pakenham died on 22 January 2023 at the age of 83.[3]
Biography
Pakenham was educated at Belvedere College, a private Jesuit school in Dublin, and Magdalen College, Oxford. After graduating in 1955 he travelled around Ethiopia, a journey that he described in his first book, The Mountains of Rasselas (1959). After returning to Britain he worked on the editorial staff of the Times Educational Supplement, and later for The Sunday Telegraph and The Observer. He now divides his time between London and County Westmeath, Ireland, where he is the Chairman of the Irish Tree Society and honorary custodian of Tullynally Castle.
Pakenham owned Longford Greyhound Stadium until 1966, when he sold it to Longford Sports Ltd.[4]
Bibliography
- The Mountains of Rasselas: An Ethiopian Adventure, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1959. (reprinted with updated photographs, 1998)
- The Year of Liberty: The History of the Great Irish Rebellion of 1798, Hodder & Stoughton, 1969.
- Pakenham, Thomas (1979). The Boer War. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 029777395X. OCLC 905293995.
- The Scramble for Africa, 1876-1912, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1991. (winner of the WH Smith Literary Award and the Alan Paton Award)
- Meetings with Remarkable Trees, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1996. (made into a radio series and a television series under the same title)
- Remarkable Trees of the World, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2002.
- The Remarkable Baobab, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004.
- The Company of Trees: A Year in a Lifetime's Quest, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2015.
References
- ^ a b Burke's Peerage, vol. 2 (2003), p. 2395.
- ^ "Kevin Pakenham | Pakenham Partners Limited". pakenhampartners.com. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
- ^ Longford Leader Reporter (23 January 2023). "Deaths in Longford - Monday, January 23, 2023". longfordleader.ie. Iconic Media.. Obituary for Valerie Pakenham (née McNair Scott), Tullynally, Castlepollard, Co Westmeath.
- ^ "Monthly Greyhound Star (Remember When 1966) March edition". Greyhound Star.
External links
- Tullynally Castle
Peerage of Ireland | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by | Earl of Longford 2001– | Incumbent Heir: Edward Pakenham, Lord Silchester |
- v
- t
- e
- Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 22nd Earl of Shrewsbury
- Edward Stanley, 19th Earl of Derby
- William Hastings-Bass, 17th Earl of Huntingdon
- William Herbert, 18th Earl of Pembroke
- Charles Courtenay, 19th Earl of Devon
- Robert Fiennes-Clinton, 19th Earl of Lincoln
- Alexander Howard, 22nd Earl of Suffolk
- William Herbert, 15th Earl of Montgomery
- Alexander Feilding, 12th Earl of Denbigh
- Anthony Fane, 16th Earl of Westmorland
- Alexander Howard, 15th Earl of Berkshire
- Richard Bertie, 14th Earl of Lindsey
- Daniel Finch-Hatton, 17th Earl of Winchilsea
- John Montagu, 11th Earl of Sandwich
- Paul Capell, 11th Earl of Essex
- George Howard, 13th Earl of Carlisle
- Nicholas Ashley-Cooper, 12th Earl of Shaftesbury
- Daniel Finch-Hatton, 12th Earl of Nottingham
- Richard Bertie, 9th Earl of Abingdon
- Timothy Bentinck, 12th Earl of Portland
- Richard Lumley, 13th Earl of Scarbrough
- Rufus Keppel, 10th Earl of Albemarle
- George Coventry, 13th Earl of Coventry
- William Child Villiers, 10th Earl of Jersey
- Alistair Sutherland, 25th Earl of Sutherland
- Anthony Lindsay, 30th Earl of Crawford
- Margaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar
- Merlin Hay, 24th Earl of Erroll
- Malcolm Sinclair, 20th Earl of Caithness
- Stewart Douglas, 22nd Earl of Morton
- James Leslie, 22nd Earl of Rothes
- Henry Erskine, 18th Earl of Buchan
- Hugh Montgomerie, 19th Earl of Eglinton
- John Stuart, 21st Earl of Moray
- James Erskine, 14th Earl of Mar
- Michael Douglas-Home, 16th Earl of Home
- James David Drummond, 10th Earl of Perth
- Simon Bowes-Lyon, 19th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
- James Erskine, 16th Earl of Kellie
- George Baillie-Hamilton, 14th Earl of Haddington
- Andrew Stewart, 14th Earl of Galloway
- Ian Maitland, 18th Earl of Lauderdale
- James Lindesay-Bethune, 16th Earl of Lindsay
- Simon Abney-Hastings, 15th Earl of Loudoun
- Charles Hay, 16th Earl of Kinnoull
- Andrew Bruce, 11th Earl of Elgin
- James Charteris, 13th Earl of Wemyss
- James Ramsay, 17th Earl of Dalhousie
- David Ogilvy, 14th Earl of Airlie
- Alexander Leslie-Melville, 15th Earl of Leven
- John Grant, 13th Earl of Dysart
- John Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Earl of Selkirk
- Patrick Carnegy, 15th Earl of Northesk
- Andrew Bruce, 15th Earl of Kincardine
- Anthony Lindsay, 13th Earl of Balcarres
- Filippo Rospigliosi, 12th Earl of Newburgh
- Alexander Scrymgeour, 12th Earl of Dundee
- Patrick Hope-Johnstone, 11th Earl of Annandale and Hartfell
- Iain Cochrane, 15th Earl of Dundonald
- James Keith, 14th Earl of Kintore
- Malcolm Murray, 12th Earl of Dunmore
- Alexander Leslie-Melville, 14th Earl of Melville
- Peter St John, 9th Earl of Orkney
- James Charteris, 9th Earl of March
- Ian Ogilvie-Grant, 13th Earl of Seafield
- John Dalrymple, 14th Earl of Stair
- Harry Primrose, 8th Earl of Rosebery
- Patrick Boyle, 10th Earl of Glasgow
Britain
- Robert Shirley, 14th Earl Ferrers
- William Legge, 10th Earl of Dartmouth
- Peter Bennett, 10th Earl of Tankerville
- Charles Finch-Knightley, 12th Earl of Aylesford
- Richard Parker, 9th Earl of Macclesfield
- James Waldegrave, 13th Earl Waldegrave
- Charles Stanhope, 12th Earl of Harrington
- Quentin Wallop, 10th Earl of Portsmouth
- Guy Greville, 9th Earl Brooke
- George Hobart-Hampden, 10th Earl of Buckinghamshire
- Piers North, 10th Earl of Guilford
- Joseph Yorke, 10th Earl of Hardwicke
- Robin Fox-Strangways, 10th Earl of Ilchester
- Guy Greville, 9th Earl of Warwick
- William Sackville, 11th Earl De La Warr
- William Pleydell-Bouverie, 9th Earl of Radnor
- Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer
- Allen Bathurst, 9th Earl Bathurst
- George Villiers, 8th Earl of Clarendon
- Alexander Murray, 8th and 9th Earl of Mansfield
- Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 7th Earl Talbot
- Christopher Edgcumbe, 9th Earl of Mount Edgcumbe
- Charles Fortescue, 8th Earl Fortescue
- Alexander Murray, 9th Earl of Mansfield
- George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon
- Edward Cadogan, 9th Earl Cadogan
- James Harris, 7th Earl of Malmesbury
Kingdom