Lord Headfort

LORD HEADFORT - KENLIS HOUSE

The sixth Marquis of Headfort (Thomas Geoffrey Charles Michael Taylour) died at Kenlis House on the 21 October, 2005 at the age of 73.

Kenlis is no longer owned by the family but for the purpose of this write-up I have used the terms Kenlis (Kells) and Lord Headfort.

The following is an extract from the "Daily Telegraph" 08 Dec 2005.

"The 6th Marquis of Headfort inherited a great estate in Ireland, but travelled further afield as a salesman of civil aircraft which he piloted himself; he came to wider attention when he was escorted by police from the Isles of Scilly, after what was claimed to be an abortive attempt to murder Harold Wilson.

In August 1965, a waiter called Ray Youngman who was working at the Atlantic Hotel in St Mary's told police that he had been approached by "a tall, sandy-haired man" who had asked to be rowed out to the uninhabited island of Samson.

On the way, the man grilled Youngman about his political views. "He asked me if I could use hand guns and said he had a.38 revolver which he would bring with him the following day for me to practise with on the island," Youngman told The Daily Telegraph.

"After referring to the Prime Minister and asking if I thought Britain was safe in his hands he wanted to know if I would kill for a fee. He asked if I would kill the Prime Minister without question. I said I would if the money was right." Youngman claimed that he agreed to work for him and was given £5 on account. "Then I took him on to Tresco." CONTINUED RHS >>>

But Youngman soon got cold feet and decided to inform the police about his passenger's "strange proposals". Shortly afterwards, the police escorted the marquis from the Scilly Isles, taking him to St Lawrence's Hospital, Bodmin, from which he was later released.

The following day, from his home in Ireland, Headfort denied Youngman's account of the incident, though he admitted to hiring his boat. But his neighbours in nearby Kells described how Headfort, wearing a Stetson, had fired three blanks into the ceiling of a local pub during a party. "No one took much notice because he is known for his practical jokes," one said. "The marquis is regarded as a crack shot."

While some of his behaviour could be attributed to high spirits, Headfort also suffered from manic depression that necessitated occasional hospitalisation. Related to this was a period of alcoholism. His last speech in the House of Lords in 1987 was a tribute to the work of Alcoholics Anonymous. He did not drink alcohol for the last 20 years of his life."

LUBANG BINACAS BINACAS DAM CABRA ISLAND CABRA ISLAND - BALIBAGO CABRA - BULI WATER SUPPLY CABRA ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE CAPTAIN TAYLOUR FORT SANTA CATALINA HULAGAAN FALLS LORD HEADFORT LORD HEADFORT's FARM LUBANG AND LOOC MPA SORVILLE THE ONODA TRAIL TAGBAC TANGAL TUMIBO WALISWIS VIGO LOOC AGKAWAYAN AMBIL ISLAND - BRGY. TABAO BALIKYAS BUROL SCHOOL OF FISHERIES SALT FARMING TABAJIN BAY TILIK FRIENDSHIP SHRINE A FISH FARM DEVELOPMENT CALATAGAN WAWA PIER, NASUGBU TRANSPORT LUBANG TRICYCLES HEALTH SERVICES POWER SUPPLY FERRY AIRPORT GOZAR MARKET CORAL FARMING FISH FARMING LUBANG FISH PORT RICE HARVESTING EDUCATION OLPC LUBANG RESORTS AIRLINK BEACH PROTACIO BEACH BAMBOO HUT KAYPALAD PUNONG BATO HOMESTAYS ANGELICA VIDEOKE BARS >> VILLA VERDE REYMAR DALEG ZAFFARI CLUB VILLA ESCUDERO SUNDRY BARELY UNDERWATER BOATS BORACAY COCONUT PLANKS CORREGIDOR ISLAND FAKE CERTIFICATES FIESTAS >> KUSANG LOOB HINULUGANG TAKTAK FALLS HOUSES KAMAYAN PALAISDAAN MAKING CONCRETE POSTS MANILA BAY WALK MANILA BAYWALK REVISITED MYRNA'S PAGE NASUGBU - WAWA PIER PANORAMIO VIEW PARADISE ISLAND? PEOPLE SABONG STO NINO DE PAZ CHAPEL - MANILA TAAL VOLCANO TALISAY - GENERAL TALISAY - LAKE FRONTAGE XMAS PARTY 2010 SAN JOSE AIRPORT - GENERAL MINDORO LANDING 1944 ST. JOSEPH CATHEDRAL CAMINAWIT PORT CAPT. COOPER CROSSING AROMA BEACH WALK PUBLIC CEMETERY WHITE ISLAND MAMBURAO MANGYAN VILLAGE PORT OF BATANGAS PORT ABRA DE ILOG SAMAR CATARMAN CATARMAN AQUASILVICULTURE PROJECT CATARMAN HOTELS CATARMAN RELIGIOUS FLOATS CATARMAN RIVER MOUTH JOHN PAUL SEMINARY RAWIS TO LAOANG SAN ANTONIO - DALAPURI ISLAND ST. MICHAEL PARISH CHURCH - LAOANG SURREAL VISITA IGLESIA UEP MAIN PART 1 UEP MAIN PART 2 UEP ECO PARK UEP FISHERIES UEP TOURISM UEP TO LAVEZARES PINEILS FARM MAPS LINKS SITE INDEX IMAGES-A4 COPYRIGHT

LORD HEADFORT - KENLIS HOUSE The sixth Marquis of Headfort (Thomas Geoffrey Charles Michael Taylour) died at Kenlis House on the 21 October, 2005 at the age of 73. Kenlis is no longer owned by the family but for the purpose of this write-up I have used the terms Kenlis (Kells) and Lord Headfort. The following is an extract from the "Daily Telegraph" 08 Dec 2005. "The 6th Marquis of Headfort inherited a great estate in Ireland, but travelled further afield as a salesman of civil aircraft which he piloted himself; he came to wider attention when he was escorted by police from the Isles of Scilly, after what was claimed to be an abortive attempt to murder Harold Wilson. In August 1965, a waiter called Ray Youngman who was working at the Atlantic Hotel in St Mary's told police that he had been approached by "a tall, sandy-haired man" who had asked to be rowed out to the uninhabited island of Samson. On the way, the man grilled Youngman about his political views. "He asked me if I could use hand guns and said he had a.38 revolver which he would bring with him the following day for me to practise with on the island," Youngman told The Daily Telegraph. "After referring to the Prime Minister and asking if I thought Britain was safe in his hands he wanted to know if I would kill for a fee. He asked if I would kill the Prime Minister without question. I said I would if the money was right." Youngman claimed that he agreed to work for him and was given £5 on account. "Then I took him on to Tresco." CONTINUED RHS >>>	But Youngman soon got cold feet and decided to inform the police about his passenger's "strange proposals". Shortly afterwards, the police escorted the marquis from the Scilly Isles, taking him to St Lawrence's Hospital, Bodmin, from which he was later released. The following day, from his home in Ireland, Headfort denied Youngman's account of the incident, though he admitted to hiring his boat. But his neighbours in nearby Kells described how Headfort, wearing a Stetson, had fired three blanks into the ceiling of a local pub during a party. "No one took much notice because he is known for his practical jokes," one said. "The marquis is regarded as a crack shot." While some of his behaviour could be attributed to high spirits, Headfort also suffered from manic depression that necessitated occasional hospitalisation. Related to this was a period of alcoholism. His last speech in the House of Lords in 1987 was a tribute to the work of Alcoholics Anonymous. He did not drink alcohol for the last 20 years of his life."

Lord Headfort was for a period an honorary Inspector of Police in Hongkong and later moved to the Philippines. His second wife (married in 1972) was Virginia Nable, a friend of Imelda Marcos. While in Lubang he was active in the coastgaurds and went to assist many fishing boats in trouble. He also had a 4 hectare farm in Tanggal. Lord and Lady Headfort donated a Public Library to the Municipality of Lubang, and it is located next to the Municipal Administrative Center. There does not appear to be very many books in the library, but this offset by there being a major shift to electronic books, such as in the epub format. These days most people do their research using on-line databases rather than library based encyclopedias such as I relied on in my schooldays. At present (2013) the library is used by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in the implementation of the Kalahi-CIDSS (Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services) program. The Kalahi-CIDSS is one of the major government programs to fight poverty in the country. It is based on methods of community-driven development where the barangay is given the power to decide on matters affecting their lives. The program is funded by the World Bank. Note 21 July 2015: Four days ago I received some photos from Barry Aldred who spent just over a year at Kenlis house. I have placed them further down the page. I am pleased to say that they show the house being utilised. Based on the photos given by Barry, I required more than one page to illustrate Lord Headfort's activities in Lubang Island. I have included links to the other pages below: Captain Taylour Lord Headfort's Tangal Farm

The photo of the sixth Lord Headfort was supplied by Ray D. Morales of Lubang who received a Scholarship to attend University from him.



For a closer view see - Poster No. 4 outside Kells town hall - pdf (2,997kB)
Headfort House is a large country house on the southern outskirts of Kells in County Meath, Ireland. In 2004, the house was selected by the World Monuments Fund (WMF) for inclusion in its List of 100 Most Endangered Sites and is currently in use by Headfort School as a private school for children aged 3 to 13 years. The House was constructed in the 1760s for Earl of Bective, Thomas Taylour to a design by the Irish architect George Semple. The interiors were designed by the Scottish architect Robert Adam . It remained in the private hands of the Taylor family until 1949, when the family leased the house to the newly formed Headfort School. In 1996 ownership of the building was transferred to a building preservation trust, the Headfort Trust. Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headfort_House, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headfort_School	Headfort School, founded in 1949 by Lord and Lady Headfort, is Ireland's sole remaining preparatory boarding school. It is located outside the village of Kells, County Meath, some 75 km north west of Dublin. Headfort caters for both day and boarding pupils from the ages of seven to thirteen. In 2002 the school started a Montessori division Montessori school which now caters to children from the age of three to seven. The Guardian 12 Oct 2017: 'School Life' - Review: This endearing documentary tracks life at Headfort, a boarding prep school in Ireland where an assortment of kids, mostly local but also further flung corners of the world, grow and seemingly flourish under the tutelage of some especially gifted teachers. Ref: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/oct/12/school-life-review-documentary-headfort Youtube: 'School Life' - Official Trailer


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