Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath

Alexander George Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath (born 6 May 1932), styled Viscount Weymouth between 1946 and 1992, is an English politician, artist and author. He was born with the surname Thynne but adopted the spelling Thynn in 1976. He is ranked 359th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2009, with an estimated wealth of £157 million. He has written several novels.

Early life and education

Although born in London, he grew up at his family's seat, Longleat, a great Elizabethan house set in Wiltshire parkland landscaped in the 18th century by Capability Brown. After attending Ludgrove School and Eton College he was commissioned into the Life Guards as a lieutenant in 1951. He was then educated at Christ Church, Oxford, where he was president of the Bullingdon Club, and travelled across Europe.

Political career

Realising the strength in diversity amongst people he grew to believe that Wessex would be better off as a devolved region within the United Kingdom and stood in the February 1974 General Election as a Wessex Regionalist. Shortly after the election he was one of the founders of the Wessex Regionalist Party. He stood for the party in the first ever elections to the European Parliament in 1979.

After inheriting the marquessate from his father in 1992 he sat in the House of Lords as a Liberal Democrat. Amongst other things he spoke on the need for devolution for the regions of England, until he lost his place in the House of Lords after the Labour Government's reforms excluded most of the hereditary peers.

Personal life

In 1969 he married Hungarian born Anna Gael Gyarmathy, by whom he has two children, Lady Lenka Thynn and Ceawlin Thynn, Viscount Weymouth (pronounced 'See awe lin') who were sent to the local comprehensive school. After his father's death, he sacked Christopher, his brother, as estate controller and evicted him from his home. He is known for his colourful style of dress which originated from a period as an art student in Paris during the 1950s, and is a prolific amateur painter who has decorated rooms of his home with erotic scenes from the Kama Sutra among other sources of inspiration. He has openly had sexual relations with over 70 women during his marriage, and has installed many of them in estate cottages. He refers to these women as wifelets.

The peer passed the management of the business to his son Viscount Weymouth early in 2010. By one account, the present Viscount intends to evict the wifelets from their estate cottages, and possibly even remove his Lordship's murals.

Appearances and media

In 1999, he appeared in series 6, episode 4 of Time Team, which dealt with the excavation of a cave in the Cheddar Gorge, an area of land owned by him. In March 2009, he appeared in episode 4 of Heston's Feasts. The Marquess of Bath, a book by Nesta Wyn Ellis, initially written with Thynn's co-operation, was published in the autumn of 2010. Lord Bath's autobiography, collectively called Strictly Private to Public Exposure, was first published as a series by Artnik Books, and since 2002 has been republished by Top Spot Publishing. His other screen credits include an episode of Globe Trekker.

Artist and potter Grayson Perry interviewed the Marquess in the third of his three-part 2012 documentary series All in the Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry which focussed on Britain's upper class.

Bibliography

• Thynn, Alexander (2002). Strictly Private to Public Exposure (Series 1: A Plateful of Privilege) The Early Years. ISBN 978-1-903906-08-8. 
• Thynn, Alexander (2003). Strictly Private to Public Exposure (Series 1: A Plateful of Privilege) Top Hat and Tails. Top Spot Publishing. ISBN 978-1-903906-25-5. 
• Thynn, Alexander (2003). Strictly Private to Public Exposure (Series 1: A Plateful of Privilege) Two Bites of the Apple. Artnik. ISBN 978-1-903906-26-2. 
• Thynn, Alexander (2005). Strictly Private to Public Exposure (Series 1: A Plateful of Privilege) The Oxford Years. Top Spot Publishing. ISBN 978-1-903906-11-8. 
• Wyn Ellis, Nesta (2010). The Marquess of Bath. London SE11: Dynasty Press. pp. 226. ISBN 978-0-9553507-4-0. 

Styles

• The Hon. Alexander Thynne (1932–1946)
• Viscount Weymouth (1946–1992)
• The Most Hon. The Marquess of Bath (since 1992)

See also

• Longleat House

External links

• Official website
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Marquess of Bath