Heroes and Rebels in the Family Tree--Lord Harvey of Prestbury

 

Lord Harvey of Prestbury

Arthur Vere Harvey, was born in Kessingland, Suffolk, England on January 31, 1906, the son of Arthur William Harvey (1881-1963) and Harriet Rebecca Utting (1884-1971).  He was baptised in the Kessingland parish church on April 1, 1906.  Arthur is known to have only one sibling, Claude William Harvey, born November 24, 1907 in Kessingland and was never married.  Harvey died on April 23, 1969.

Arthur Vere Harvy was the most flamboyant of figures. His loves were flying, sailing and politics - in that order. There was a fourth, high living, which he combined with the other three, keeping a Rolls-Royce in London and a yacht in Malta. He was brave, being twice mentioned in despatches for his role in the Battle of France in 1940: although he was by then already over the stipulated age for a fighter pilot he went into action both brilliantly and recklessly, and survived.

From an early age Harvey showed a passionate interest in all matters aeronautical and joined the Royal Air Force in 1925, when he was 19 and soon qualified as a flying instructor.  In 1930 he left the service - temporarily as it turned out - to go to Hong Kong to become Director of the Far East Aviation Company. Within two years he was advising the Chinese Air Force, and Chiang Kai-Shek appointed him adviser to the South Cina Air Force, with the honorary rank of Major-General.

On June 15, 1932, Arthur Vere Harvey married Frances Laetitia Preston, nee Whitehead.  She had been previously married to Byan Wentworth Preston, MBE (son of Sir Walter Reuben Preston, M.P. and Dame Ella Margaret Morris) in 1926 but they were soon divorced.  The marriage of Arthur Vere Harvey took place at the Registrar’s Office, in Hong Kong, China. The HongKong Telegraph mentioned that Mr. Harvey was the manager and Chief Test Pilot to the Far East Aviation Co., Ltd.  The honeymoon was being spent in Japan, after which Mrs. Harvey would be proceeding on a hurried visit to England, travelling via Canada.

Records show that Arthur and Frances departed Hong Kong on June 16, 1933 and arrived in Vancouver, Canada on July 4, 1933.  At that point, Francis Harvey was about 7 months pregnant with Arthur’s child.  Their daughter was born on September 27, 1933 in Bearsted, Kent, England.  Unfortunately, their daughter, Laetitia Harvey, died on December 4, 1933 at the hospital in London.

Harvey found himself in serious trouble when, flying an aircraft from Manchuria to Tientsin, he had to make a forced landing in Japan.  That he was both white and associated with the Chinese did not commend him to the increasingly nationalistic Japanese authorities.  He was held in a military prison for a month before being expelled with a fine of 500 yen (£25) and a lifetime ban on entering Japanese territory—a penalty that ended with that country’s defeat in 1945.

At some point prior to 1937, Francis and Arthur were divorced and she remarried in July 1937.

In 1937, Arthur returned to England to take part in the King’s Cup air race, in which he came 4^th in the race with an average speed of 142.4 mph over the Miles-Whitney Straight.  He then joined the Auxiliary Air Force with the rank of squadron leader, and founded the famous 615 County of Surrey Fighter Squadron.  He took it to France in 1939 and won 2 mentions in dispatches.  He then commanded a squadron in the Battle of Britain and was instrumental in persuading Winston Churchill to become its honorary Air Commodore.  Some years later he revealed that in 1942 he had been responsible for planning the air side of a combined operations plan to seize a German occupied Alderney and hold it for three weeks.  He was made an Air Commodore in 1944.

By 1940 Harvey's fighting flying days were over, and he was posted to RAF Coltishall as station commander. At the beginning, things did not go well. He took steps to retrieve the situation. He telephoned Percy ('Laddie') Lucas, and said 'I want you here at four o'clock 48 hours from now.' When Lucas arrived he was told that the last two wing commanders had been shot down, and he was required to reverse the trend.

 A little later Colitshall lost most of a squadron in circumstances which remain somewhat mysterious. Harvey summoned Lucas at seven o'clock in the morning. 'Look old cock,' he said, 'I brought you here to stop the rot. So, stop it.' Coltishall became renowned for its efficiency thereafter.

On July 6, 1940 married Jacqueline Anne Dunnett at Bodmin, Cornwall, England.  Together, they had two children: 

1.     Philip William Vere Harvey born March 4, 1942 at Chippenham, Wiltshire, England.  Phillip was educated at Eton, but killed himself in 1997 after running into cash troubles and ending an unhappy love affair. (See the footnote at the end of this story to find out how Philip Harvey was involved with Jimi Hendrix the day before Hendrix’s death)

2.     Guy Arthur Vere Harvey born in 1947 at Chelsea, London, England.

In December 1943 Harvey was summoned to Bentley Priory to help plan the invasion of France. His officers gave a farewell dinner for him. In blunt terms in his brief speech of thanks he told them that, after the war, he would be resigning from the service, and going into business and politics. Since many of those present knew that death might not be far away, they were impressed by his sublime confidence. As he left Lucas went to say goodbye. 'Oh no, old cock,' said Harvey, 'You're coming too.'

After the end of the war, Arthur Harvey decided to enter politics and was elected in the 1945 general election as Conservative Member of Parliament for Macclesfield—a seat he held in seven further general elections. The constituency was the centre of the silk industry and within 1 year he had achieved the first of many backbench victories when he persuaded the Government to cut purchase tax on silk from 100% to 35%.

He had an engaging and irreverent streak.  During the 1947 fuel crisis he argued that a bout of unemployment for MPs would be a good thing.  “To shut down parliament for a month and stop legislation” he declared, “would be the best tonic the country ever had towards recovery.”  The same year he showed a more serious side when he travelled to India to assist in the evacuation of refugees between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of Partition.

In the Commons, he won respect for his knowledge of the aircraft and airline industries.  Over the years, he cajoled the state owned British European Aiways into putting the Union Jack on the fuselage of their aircraft and bitterly attacked British Overseas Airways for buying American airliners rather than supporting British aeronautical and technological innovations rather than let them be developed in the US.  But when the Conservatives came to power in 1951 he refused a junior office in the Air Ministry, preferring to concentrate on a career in industry.

He was the most assiduous of backbenchers, but he also found time to cultivate an almost extravagant number of business interests, almost all of them concerned with aviation, and was Deputy Chairman of Handley-Page from 1951 to 1957 and Chairman of Ciba-Geigy from 1957 to 1974. He also controlled a small trawler firm, the start boat of which was called the Marshall Pak, after Chiang Kai Shek’s Chief of Staff.  He was gifted as an administrator, and tenacious in the pursuit of success in negotiations. 

He was made a CBE in June 1942 and was knighted in June 1957.

His success in business did not translate into his personal life.  In 1954, he divorced his second wife and Jacqueline Anne Dunnett later moved to the United States to live out the remainder of her life in New York City.  She died there in May 2009.

A year after his divorce, Arthur Vere Harvey married Hilary Charmain Charles.  Hilary Charles had previously been married in 1938 to Lieutenant Colonel Brian Robertson Williams, who was a member of the British Life Guards, a cavalry regiment in the British Army that are part of the Household Cavalry which serve as a ceremonial guard for the monarch.

Arthur Vere Harvey and Hilary Charmain Charles were married in June 1955 at Kensington, London, England.

In 1966 he was elected chairman of the 1922 Committee in the crisis torn years after Harold Macmillan’s resignation and the Tory defeat under Sir Alec Douglas Home in 1966. The job of the chairman is to represent backbench views to the Leader of the party. Harvey was forthright and unflinching in his pursuit of duty. Having twice refused offers of ministerial office under Harold Macmillan, he was unlikely to be fazed by Edward Heath. Indeed, it was generally held that he more than once discomfited Heath.  On October 14, 1969 he was made an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Macclesfield.

 

In 1971, however, he decided that he had had enough of politics, and retired to devote himself to business and pleasure and was made a life peer and he became Baron Harvey of Prestbury.

Arthur Vere Harvey and Lady Hilary Charmain Charles were divorced in 1977.

In April 1978, Arthur Vere Harvey married Carol Cassar Torreggiani.   Carol Torreggiani was the great-granddaughter of the well-known Maltese painter Giuseppe Cali.  Although, previously married to Edwin Falzon, Carol was a widow at the time of her marriage with three daughters:  Charmaine, Rowena and Perta.  After their marriage, Arthur Vere Harvey adopted Carol’s daughters.

Sir Arthur Vere Harvey, Baron Prestbury, CBE was a man who lived life to the full, a man of courage, and great prescience. It is sad that he suffered, in his last years from Parkinson's disease, but he will be remembered as large-hearted and brave.  He died at St Martin's Port, Guernsey on 5 April 1994.

 

Genealogy:  Sir Arthur Vere Harvey, Baron Prestbury CBE 1906-1994 was the son of Harriet Rebecca Utting 1884-1971 and her mother was Elizabeth Durrant 1849-1930 and her mother was Maria Welch 1826-1896 and her father was Sherrard Welch 1791-1856 and his father was Thomas Welch 1761-1792 and his son was John Welch 1787-1884 and his son was John Welch 1812-1884 and his daughter was Susannah Welsh 1847-1898 and her son was George "Pikey" William Welch-Adams 1867-1940.

 

 

 

 

Footnote:

On September 18, 1970, American musician Jimi Hendrix died in London at the age of 27. One of the 1960s' most influential guitarists, he was described by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music."

In the days before his death, Hendrix had been in poor health, in part from fatigue caused by overwork, a chronic lack of sleep, and an assumed influenza-related illness. Insecurities about his personal relationships, as well as disillusionment with the music industry, had also contributed to his frustration. Although the details of his final hours and death are disputed, Hendrix spent much of his last day alive with Monika Dannemann. In the morning hours of September 18, Dannemann found Hendrix unresponsive in her apartment at the Samarkand Hotel, 22 Lansdowne Crescent, Notting Hill. She called for an ambulance at 11:18 a.m., and Hendrix was taken to St Mary Abbots Hospital, where an attempt was made to resuscitate him. He was pronounced dead at 12:45 p.m.

During the week before his death, Jimi Hendrix was dealing with two pending lawsuits: one a paternity case, and the other a recording contract dispute that was due to be heard by a UK High Court the following week.  He was also troubled with wanting to leave his manager, Michael Jeffery. Hendrix was fatigued and suffering from poor health, owing in part to severe exhaustion caused by overworking, a chronic lack of sleep, and a persistent illness assumed to be influenza-related.  Lacking trusting personal relationships, his insecurities about the future and disillusionment with the music industry contributed to his frustration.

Although the details of Hendrix's last day and death are unclear and widely disputed, he had spent much of September 17 in London with Monika Dannemann.

According to Dannemann, by 3:00 p.m. they had left the apartment where they first went to a local bank to withdraw some money from Hendrix's bank account. They continued on to Kensington Market, where Hendrix signed an autograph for a young boy, purchased a leather jacket, and ordered some shoes.  He also briefly spoke with his ex-girlfriend Kathy Etchingham whom they ran into at a store where Hendrix invited her to visit him at his hotel that evening at 8:00 p.m.; she declined the invitation because of prior engagements, and later admitted that she had "regretted it ever since".  Hendrix and Dannemann then went to a Chelsea antiques market, where Hendrix purchased more clothing. After another stop to buy writing paper, which he used to compose his final lyrics, Dannemann and Hendrix drove to his suite at the Cumberland Hotel, meeting Devon Wilson as she walked down King's Road. Hendrix asked Dannemann to stop the car so that he could get out and talk with Wilson, who invited Hendrix to a party that evening. Dannemann became jealous, giving Wilson a cold stare during the brief meeting. Later, Phillip Harvey invited Dannemann and Hendrix to tea; they accepted. Prior to their arrival at Harvey's, they briefly stopped by the Cumberland.

After stopping at the Cumberland, Hendrix and Dannemann accompanied Harvey to his apartment, arriving around 5:30 p.m. Hendrix and Dannemann smoked hashish and drank tea and wine with Harvey and two of his female companions while discussing their individual careers.  Sometime around 10:00 p.m., Dannemann, apparently feeling left out of the conversation and jealous of the attention Hendrix was giving Harvey's female friends, became visibly upset and stormed out of the flat.  Hendrix followed her, and an argument ensued between them during which Dannemann reportedly shouted: "you fucking pig". Harvey, concerned that their yelling would draw unwanted attention from the police, asked them to quiet down.  Harvey, who had remained silent about the incident out of respect for his father Lord Harvey, gave an affidavit after his father's death in 1994. In his statement, he claims to have been mildly concerned for Hendrix's safety, worried that Dannemann might "resort to serious physical violence". According to Harvey, Dannemann "verbally assaulted [Hendrix] in the most offensive possible way".  Approximately 30 minutes later, Hendrix re-entered the flat and apologized for the outburst before leaving with Dannemann at 10:40 p.m.  Dannemann said she then prepared a meal for them at her apartment around 11:00 p.m. and shared a bottle of wine with Hendrix.  Sometime after returning to the apartment, Hendrix took a bath, then wrote a poem titled "The Story of Life".  He also called former producer/co-manager Chas Chandler and left a message on the answering machine, "I need help bad, man."

The story of life is quicker than the wink of an eye. The story of love is hello and goodbye. Until we meet again. 

—The last stanza from Hendrix's final poem, "The Story of Life"