Sir Sacheverell ''Reresby'' Sitwell, 7th Baronet DL (15 April 1927 – 31 March 2009) was the head of the

Sitwell family Sitwell is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * A member of the Sitwell literary family: :* Edith Sitwell :* Osbert Sitwell :* Sacheverell Sitwell * The Sitwell Baronets, holders of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British ...

, and owner of

Renishaw Hall Renishaw Hall is a country house in Renishaw in the parish of Eckington in Derbyshire, England. It is a Grade I listed building and has been the home of the Sitwell family for nearly 400 years. The hall is southeast of Sheffield, and north of ...

, Derbyshire.

Early life

Sacheverell was born on 15 April 1927. The elder son of

Sir Sacheverell Sitwell, 6th Baronet Sir Sacheverell Reresby Sitwell, 6th Baronet, (; 15 November 1897 – 1 October 1988) was an England, English writer, particularly on baroque architecture, and an art critic, art and music critic, music critic. Sitwell produced some 50 vol ...

, and the former Georgia Louise Doble. His only sibling was Francis Trajan Sacheverell Sitwell, member of the Council of the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

who lived at

Weston Hall Weston Park is a country house in Staffordshire, England. Weston Park may refer to: * Weston Park, Sheffield Weston Park is a public park with an area of just over 5 hectares in the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It lies imme ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

. His paternal grandparents were Sir George Sitwell, 4th Baronet, of

, and the former Lady Ida Emily Augusta Denison (a daughter of the 1st Earl of Londesborough and a granddaughter of the 7th Duke of Beaufort). He was the nephew of poet and critic Dame Edith Sitwell and Sir

Osbert Sitwell Sir Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell, 5th Baronet CH CBE (6 December 1892 – 4 May 1969) was an English writer. His elder sister was Edith Sitwell and his younger brother was Sacheverell Sitwell. Like them, he devoted his life to art and l ...

, 5th Baronet. His maternal grandparents were Georgie ( Hyde) Doble and Arthur Richard Doble, a wealthy Canadian banker. His maternal aunt was

Frances Doble Frances Mary Hyde Doble (1902 – 12 December 1969) was a Canadian-born actress, who had a short career on the West End stage in the 1920s and 1930s. Life and career Early years Doble was born in Montreal, the elder daughter of Arthur Richard D ...

, an actress who had a short career on the West End stage in the 1920s and 1930s before her marriage to Sir Anthony Lindsay-Hogg, 2nd Baronet."Lindsay-Hogg, Sir Anthony Henry, (1 May 1908 – 31 Oct. 1968)"
''Who's Who & Who Was Who'', Oxford University Press. Retrieved 24 January 2018 He was educated at

Sandroyd School Sandroyd School is an independent co-educational preparatory school for day and boarding pupils aged 2 to 13 in the south of Wiltshire, England. The school's main building is Rushmore House, a 19th-century country house which is surrounded by th ...

then

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, but left the latter of his own volition without a degree.

Career

Between 1946 and 1948, he was a Lieutenant in the

Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

after which he worked in advertising and as a

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

executive from 1948 and 1960. From 1960 to 1970, he owned a vending machine business as well as a wine business with

Bruce Shand Bruce Middleton Hope Shand, (22 January 1917 – 11 June 2006) was an officer in the British Army who served in France as part of the British Expeditionary Force during the Second World War. He was the father of Queen Camilla. After the ...

between 1960 and 1975. During his lifetime, Sitwell wrote a new variation upon the

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

tale, wrote the book ''Hortus Sitwellianus'', and co-authored the book ''

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...

'', with John Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich. He was known for his support of the arts and the upkeep of Renishaw Hall. He served as

High Sheriff of Derbyshire This is a list of Sheriffs of Derbyshire from 1567 until 1974 and High Sheriffs since. The ancient Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around ...

in 1983, and was Deputy Lieutenant of Derbyshire in 1984. Upon the death of his father in 1988, he succeeded as the 7th Baronet Sitwell, of Renishaw, Count of Derby.

Personal life

On 31 October 1952, Sitwell was married to Penelope Forbes (b. 1923), the daughter of Colonel Hon. Donald Alexander Forbes (brother of the 8th Earl of Granard) and Mary Doreen Lawson (a daughter of Andrew Sherlock Lawson and granddaughter of the 14th Viscount Mountgarret). Together, they were the parents of:Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish geneal ...

, 2003, vol. 2, p. 1629. * Alexandra Isobel Susanna Edith Sitwell (b. 1958), who married Richard "Rick" Hayward, son of Sir

Jack Hayward Sir Jack Arnold Hayward (14 June 1923 – 13 January 2015) was an English businessman, property developer, philanthropist, and president of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. Biography Early life The only son of Charles Willi ...

and Jean Mary Forder, in 1991. Sitwell died on 31 March 2009. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his nephew,

George Sitwell Sir George Reresby Sitwell, 4th Baronet (27 January 1860 – 9 July 1943) was a British antiquarian writer and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1885 and 1895. Early life Sitwell was born in London, the son of Sir ...

, the son of his brother Francis, who died in 2004, and his sister-in-law Susanna Cross. Due to Sir Reresby and his brother being "never in harmony", he bequeathed Renishaw Hall to his daughter, and only child, Alexandra.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sitwell, Reresby 1927 births 2009 deaths Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom English people of Canadian descent Grenadier Guards officers High sheriffs of Derbyshire People educated at Eton College People educated at Sandroyd School Reresby