John Robert Russell Bedford (1917–2002)

He was the 13th Duke of Bedford. His father was estranged from the rest of the family and John hadn’t even known he was related to the Bedfords. His grandmother was often in the papers as “The Flying Duchess” because she took up piloting a small plane in her 70s. When he saw a news story about this a maid said to him “Didn’t you know that’s your grandmother?”

His childhood was pretty awful - his father was uninterested in much besides his hobbies and was abusive when he did notice the young John. Then when he was a young-ish man, his grandfather and father died and he took possession of the family seat, Woburn Abbey. It had been neglected for years and required major work to even be fit to be livable for his family.

To make the estate pay for itself he and his wife opened it to the public in 1955. This was outrageous at the time - other owners of stately homes judged him for this, but he was successful. Later he added attractions like a safari park. It's still an attraction, though at the moment is closed for a big refurbishment project.

He’s an amusing writer and describes his family and others in a hilarious way. Just the sort of thing I like, and I recommended it to the cartoonist Mimi Pond, a Facebook friend, who’s doing a graphic novel about the Mitfords.… (plus d'informations)

Back in 1955, the then Duke of Bedford was one of the first members of the aristocracy to open his stately home to the public as a means of raising funds to cover the running costs. He published this book in 1971, ostensibly as a "how to" manual for his (literal) peers who might be considering doing the same.

It is, in fact, packed full of genuine and useful advice for the would-be stately home entrepreneur, or indeed anyone in a service or tourism business. It's also a highly entertaining read for the public at large. The duke was a sharp observer of human behaviour and had a bone-dry sense of humour. He combined this with what reads as a genuine appreciation of and gratitude for his customers, and a delight in sharing his possessions with other people who enjoyed them.

The book was written in collaboration with George Mikes of "How to be an alien" fame. It's hard to tell exactly what blend of ghost-writing, co-writing and editing was going on here, but the duke was certainly capable of writing well on his own account, as he'd had a career as a journalist. It's clear that the general observations and much of the humour came from the duke -- and that the two men shared a wryly funny view of the foibles of the English. The original hardback edition is set off with illustrations by ffolkes, including a rather splendid colour illustration on the dust jacket.

It's a short book, only 125 pages, but it had me smiling on nearly every page, and left me feeling that I would have liked to meet the duke. Very much recommended if you like this sort of book.

It's long since out of print, but readily available online at reading copy price.… (plus d'informations)