Frederick Gordon-Lennox, 9th Duke of Richmond

Frederick Charles Gordon-Lennox, 9th Duke of Richmond, 9th Duke of Lennox, 4th Duke of Gordon (5 February 1904–2 November 1989) was a British peer, engineer, racing driver and motor racing promoter.

Freddie Richmond, as he was known, the son of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 8th Duke of Richmond. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. His interest in engineering started at university and afterwards he was apprenticed to Bentley Motors. He began a motor racing career in 1929 when he took part in the JCC High Speed Trial. In the next year he became a member of the Austin team and won the Brooklands 500 Miles. He created his own team of MG Midgets in 1931 and won the Brooklands Double Twelve race, but then became more involved in the organisational side of motor sport.

He inherited the Dukedoms in 1935, along with the Goodwood Estate and the racecourse. Death duties meant he had to sell the family interests in Scotland, including Gordon Castle, and to settle on the Goodwood Estate near Chichester. He designed and flew his own aircraft and served with the Royal Air Force during the World War II. For a time he was based in Washington, working for the Ministry of Aircraft Production.

After the war he faced the task of rehabilitating Goodwood, and saw the potential to create a motor racing circuit from the fighter station built at Goodwood during the Second World War. Horse racing was an important part of the Goodwood scene, but he did not share his ancestor’s interest in the sport. The Goodwood Circuit became an important venue in motor racing. However by 1966 the Duke was concerned at the increasing risks involved in motor racing and closed the circuit except for minor club activities and private testing.

The Duke was the longest-serving Vice President of the Royal Automobile Club, with which he was associated since 1948. As early as the thirties, he was the motoring correspondent of the Sunday Referee, and became the Founder President of the Guild of Motoring Writers.

Marriage/Children

He married Elizabeth Grace Hudson on 15 December 1927. She was the daughter of Rev. Thomas William Hudson and his wife Alethea Matheson, and sister of Bishop Noel Hudson. They were married 61 years and had two children:

*Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 10th Duke of Richmond (b. 19 September 1929)

*Lord Nicholas Charles Gordon-Lennox KCVO KCMG (31 January 1931 - 11 October 2004), married Mary Williamson and had issue. He was the British Ambassador to Spain from 1984 to 1989

References

*"Times Obituary", November 1989

External links

*Genealogics name|id=00118107

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