Sir (John) Richard (Walter Reginald) Carew Pole, 13th Bt. (E, cr. 1628), OBE
JL
Sir Richard died peacefully at home in Cornwall on 1st December, aged 85. A private funeral will be held at Antony, Torpoint with services of thanksgiving in London and Cornwall to be announced later.
bx...@yahoo.com
Richard R
Sir Richard Carew Pole obituary: fundraiser behind Tate St Ives and the Eden Project
Good-humoured leading figure in the arts, heritage and horticulture known in debutante circles as ‘the Passion’
Up until 1988 and his 51st year, the life of Sir Richard Carew Pole had taken a wholly unremarkable course for someone of his social background. As a scion of the Carew family, an ancient West Country dynasty, he would inherit in 1993 a baronetcy, a substantial estate and the right to live at Antony, one of the finest Queen Anne houses in England, set on the coast at Torpoint in Cornwall, close to the border with Devon…
His father had gifted the house and garden to the National Trust in 1961, securing the right of the family to continue living there if they should so wish — though as a relatively small house of its type, there are no private quarters and the public visit the rooms in which the family actually live…
Carew Pole’s life was a seemingly endless round of country-house weekends, hunt balls and grand London parties, thanks to an exceptionally wide circle of contacts and family connections; two of his godparents were the Duke of Beaufort and the Duchess of Gloucester. The only blip was a failed first marriage, in 1965, to Victoria Lever, known as “Plum”, a daughter of Viscount Leverhulme. Nine years later he married Mary (née Dawnay) — who survives him, along with their two sons, Sir Tremayne John Carew Pole, who succeeds as 14th baronet and lives at Antony, and John Alexander George Carew Pole…
John Richard Walter Reginald Carew Pole was born in 1938 at Antony. The birth was by planned caesarean section, since his mother had broken her pelvis in a hunting accident a few years previously. Carew Pole had two older sisters, and the ardent hope — in this era — was for a male heir; it was arranged that the nanny would push the servants’ bell once if it was a boy, twice for a girl. As Carew Pole reminisced: “To everybody’s great excitement and relief, the bell sounded only once. There were shrieks of delight all around.”
…he met and married [his 1st w] “Plum” Lever in a whirlwind romance that resulted in a grand marriage at the Guards’ Chapel with a guard of honour from his regiment, followed by a reception at St James’s Palace that was attended by all the estate employees and tenantry of Antony, who were brought up to London in a specially chartered train carriage…
Carew Pole’s second marriage, in 1974, was a much simpler affair than his first: Droitwich Registry Office and a few guests, followed by a short honeymoon at two small hotels in rural England. His bride did not complain — now in her early thirties, Mary had never enjoyed parties and had had to be hauled back to her own debutante’s coming-out party on Park Lane when she was spotted leaving early… Princess Anne appointed her as a lady-in-waiting…
Sir Richard Carew Pole OBE, DL, was born on December 2, 1938. He died on December 1, aged 85
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/sir-richard-carew-pole-tp6g9s39q
Richard R
CAREW POLE Richard. Memorial Service to be held at St James, Piccadilly, at 2pm on the 4th June 2025.
Richard R
colinp
The King was represented by the Earl of Rosslyn (Lord Steward and Personal Secretary to The King and Queen) at the Memorial Service for Sir Richard Carew Pole, Bt (formerly Trustee of the Eden Project and of Tate St Ives) which was held at St James’s Church, Piccadilly, London W1, this afternoon.
The Queen was represented by the Marchioness of Lansdowne.
The Princess Royal was represented by Captain Sir Nicholas Wright RN.
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were represented by Dr Nicola Stacey.
The Duke of Kent was represented by Mr Nicholas Turnbull.
Princess Alexandra, the Hon Lady Ogilvy was represented by Mrs Diane Duke.