Shropshire-born Lord Harlech raises more than £2.5 million by selling off family heirlooms
Shropshire-born Lord Harlech raised more than £2.5 million by selling off more than 500 antique treasures including many from his family’s former home.
Old Etonian property developer, Lord Harlech, 30, was born near Oswestry and became the seventh Lord Harlech when his father died on February 1 last year.
He has now sold more than 550 family heirlooms, including many from his family’s former home near Oswestry, at an auction at Bonhams in London on Wednesday(MAR29).
The money will be used to restore the Harlech family home, Glyn Cywarch in Wales.
Before the auction, the Harlech heirlooms had been expected to fetch between £940,000 and £1,400,000, but in the end they sold for more than double those pre-sale estimates and went for £2,599,038.
Lord Harlech's grandfather, the fifth Lord Harlech, was Conservative MP for Oswestry for 11 years, from 1950 until 1961, when he became Britain's Ambassador in Washington.
During his four year as ambassador, Lord Harlech became a particularly close friend of US President John F Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, and was UK Ambassador in Washington when President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22 1963.
One of the most poignant and most desirable items in the Harlech auction was an 1840 edition of The Poetical Works by Percy Bysshe Shelley, which was once owned and treasured by President Kennedy and which, after his death, his widow gave to Lord Harlech.
The book was auctioned with the affectionate note Mrs Kennedy – later Jacqueline 'Jackie O' Onassis – sent with the book in May 1964 to Lord Harlech.
It says: "To David – on his birthday. This Shelley is a book that Jack had since we were married and I don't know how long before.
"He kept it in his room at the White House – which is why his seal is in it. I wish I could give you the most precious thing that belonged to him – as precious as your friendship was to him, but nothing tangible could ever express that, so please accept this with all my love, Jackie."
Before the auction, the book had been expected to sell for between £4,000 and £6,000 – but it fetched £8,125.
Meanwhile, a rare 115-year-old King Edward VII officer’s sword, of the Shropshire Yeomanry Cavalry, sold for £525 at the auction.
The sword belonged to the third Lord Harlech – Conservative MP for Oswestry from 1901 until 1904.
The third Lord Harlech was commanding officer of the Shropshire Yeomanry Cavalry from 1902 until 1907.
In the catalogue, produced for Bonhams' auction, Lord Harlech says: "Glyn Cywarch has been in our family's ownership for 400 years and I therefore feel passionate about the need to restore this historic building and ensure it survives for future generations to enjoy.
"Bonhams' sale will help our family generate the much needed funds to invest back into the estate and I am looking forward to building on the work of my predecessors in promoting this beautiful and largely undiscovered part of North Wales, from which my family proudly takes its name."
