John Knatchbull, 7th Baron Brabourne
Encyclopedia
John Ulick Knatchbull, 7th Baron Brabourne, CBE
(9 November 1924 – 23 September 2005), professionally known as John Brabourne, was a British
peer
, television producer
and Academy-award
nominated film producer.
Brabourne was a TV
producer from 1958 to 1988 and was a director of Mersham Productions in 1970, a director of Thames Television
(later Chairman) and Euston Films
from 1978 to 1995, and a director of Thorn EMI
from 1981 to 1986. In 1979, he was invested as a Fellow of the British Film Institute
and made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
in 1993.
John Brabourne received two Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, as producer of Romeo and Juliet
(1968) and A Passage to India
(1984). His filmography also includes Harry Black
, Murder on the Orient Express
, Death on the Nile
, Sink the Bismarck!
, and Little Dorrit
.
and his wife, the Lady Doreen Browne
. He was educated at Eton College
and Brasenose College, Oxford
. He served in the Coldstream Guards
, rising to the rank of Captain
and fought in France
in the Second World War from 1943.
On 26 October 1946, at Romsey Abbey
in Hampshire
, at the age of 21, he married the Honourable Patricia Mountbatten, elder daughter and heiress of Viscount Mountbatten, later Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
. He and his wife were one of the few couples who both held titles in their own right. They had seven children, including the following:
Brabourne, his wife, and his son Timothy (Nicholas' twin brother) were injured, but survived the attack.
Lord Brabourne served as a governor of various schools, including: Norton Knatchbull School from 1947 to 2000, Wye Agricultural College from 1955 to 2000, and Gordonstoun School from 1964 to 1994. He was also a Pro-Chancellor
of the University of Kent
from 1993 to 1999.
He died in 2005 at his home in Kent at the age of 80.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(9 November 1924 – 23 September 2005), professionally known as John Brabourne, was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
peer
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
, television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
and Academy-award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
nominated film producer.
Brabourne was a TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
producer from 1958 to 1988 and was a director of Mersham Productions in 1970, a director of Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
(later Chairman) and Euston Films
Euston Films
Euston Films was a British film and television production company. It was a subsidiary company of Thames Television, and operated from the 1970s to the 1990s, producing various series for Thames, which were screened nationally on the ITV network...
from 1978 to 1995, and a director of Thorn EMI
Thorn EMI
Thorn EMI was a major British company involved in consumer electronics, music, defence and retail. Created in October 1979 when Thorn Electrical Industries merged with EMI, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but it demerged again in...
from 1981 to 1986. In 1979, he was invested as a Fellow of the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
and made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1993.
John Brabourne received two Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, as producer of Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet (1968 film)
Romeo and Juliet is a 1968 British-Italian cinematic adaptation of the William Shakespeare play of the same name.The film was directed and co-written by Franco Zeffirelli, and stars Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey. It won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design; it was also...
(1968) and A Passage to India
A Passage to India (film)
A Passage to India is a 1984 drama film written and directed by David Lean. The screenplay is based on the 1924 novel of the same title by E. M. Forster and the 1960 play by Santha Rama Rau that was inspired by the novel....
(1984). His filmography also includes Harry Black
Harry Black (film)
Harry Black is a 1958 British film adaptation of the novel Harry Black by David Walker, released by 20th Century Fox. The film stars Stewart Granger, Barbara Rush and I. S. Johar in a BAFTA nominated role.The film was shot in India.-Cast:...
, Murder on the Orient Express
Murder on the Orient Express (1974 film)
Murder on the Orient Express is a 1974 British mystery film directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot, and based on the1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie.-Overview:...
, Death on the Nile
Death on the Nile (1978 film)
Death on the Nile is a 1978 film based on the Agatha Christie mystery novel Death on the Nile, directed by John Guillermin. The film features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot played by Peter Ustinov plus an all-star cast. It takes place in Egypt, mostly on the Nile River...
, Sink the Bismarck!
Sink the Bismarck!
Sink the Bismarck! is a 1960 black-and-white British war film based on the book, the "Last Nine Days of the Bismarck" by C. S. Forester. It stars Kenneth More and Dana Wynter and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. To date, it is the only movie made that deals directly with the operations, chase, and...
, and Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit is a serial novel by Charles Dickens published originally between 1855 and 1857. It is a work of satire on the shortcomings of the government and society of the period....
.
Personal life
Lord Brabourne was born in 1924, the son of Michael Knatchbull, 5th Baron BrabourneMichael Knatchbull, 5th Baron Brabourne
Michael Herbert Rudolf Knatchbull, 5th Baron Brabourne, GCSI, GCIE, MC was a British peer and soldier, the son of the 4th Baron Brabourne....
and his wife, the Lady Doreen Browne
Doreen Knatchbull, Baroness Brabourne
Doreen Knatchbull, Baroness Brabourne, CI was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, socialite and victim of the Provisional IRA.-Family life:...
. He was educated at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College, originally Brazen Nose College , is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. As of 2006, it has an estimated financial endowment of £98m...
. He served in the Coldstream Guards
Coldstream Guards
Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....
, rising to the rank of Captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
and fought in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in the Second World War from 1943.
On 26 October 1946, at Romsey Abbey
Romsey Abbey
Romsey Abbey is a parish church of the Church of England in Romsey, a market town in Hampshire, England. Until the dissolution it was the church of a Benedictine nunnery.-Background:...
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, at the age of 21, he married the Honourable Patricia Mountbatten, elder daughter and heiress of Viscount Mountbatten, later Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC, FRS , was a British statesman and naval officer, and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
. He and his wife were one of the few couples who both held titles in their own right. They had seven children, including the following:
- Norton Knatchbull, 8th Baron BrabourneNorton Knatchbull, 8th Baron BrabourneNorton Louis Philip Knatchbull, 8th Baron Brabourne , known until 2005 as Lord Romsey, is a British Peer.-Life and education:...
(b. 8 October 1947), married Penelope Eastwood and has issue. - Hon. Nicholas Timothy Charles Knatchbull (18 November 1964 – 27 August 1979), killed, aged 14, by a Provisional Irish Republican ArmyProvisional Irish Republican ArmyThe Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(IRA) bomb. Lord Brabourne was in the boat which was blown up by the IRA off the shores of SligoSligoSligo is the county town of County Sligo in Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is sometimes referred to as a city, and sometimes as a town, and is the second largest urban area in Connacht...
in 1979, killing his father-in-law Lord Mountbatten of Burma, who lived in a nearby estate, his fourteen-year-old son Nicholas Knatchbull, his mother, the Dowager Baroness BrabourneDoreen Knatchbull, Baroness BrabourneDoreen Knatchbull, Baroness Brabourne, CI was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, socialite and victim of the Provisional IRA.-Family life:...
, and a local boy, Paul Maxwell, from County FermanaghCounty FermanaghFermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas....
.
Brabourne, his wife, and his son Timothy (Nicholas' twin brother) were injured, but survived the attack.
Lord Brabourne served as a governor of various schools, including: Norton Knatchbull School from 1947 to 2000, Wye Agricultural College from 1955 to 2000, and Gordonstoun School from 1964 to 1994. He was also a Pro-Chancellor
Pro-Chancellor
A Pro-Chancellor is an officer of some universities in Commonwealth countries. The Pro-Chancellor acts as a deputy to the Chancellor and as practical chairman of the University Council...
of the University of Kent
University of Kent
The University of Kent, previously the University of Kent at Canterbury, is a public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom...
from 1993 to 1999.
He died in 2005 at his home in Kent at the age of 80.