Peter Grenfell, 2nd Baron St Just
English peer
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Peter George Grenfell, 2nd Baron St. Just (22 July 1922 – 1984) was an English peer, a member of the House of Lords from 1943 until his death.
Peter George Grenfell, 2nd Baron St Just | |
|---|---|
| Baron St Just | |
| Tenure | 1943–1984 |
Predecessor | Edward Grenfell, 1st Baron St Just |
Successor | Title extinct |
| Born | July 22, 1922 |
| Died | July 22, 1984 (aged 62) |
| Residence | Wilbury House |
| Spouses | Leslie Nast (m. 1949; div. 1955), Maria Britneva (m. 1956) |
| Parents | Edward Grenfell, 1st Baron St Just Florence Emily Henderson |
Life
Grenfell was the only son of Edward Grenfell, a partner in Morgan, Grenfell & Co., director of the Bank of England, and Member of Parliament for the City of London, and his wife Florence Emily Henderson.[1] He was educated at Sandroyd School and Harrow School.[2] In July 1935, while he was still there, his father was raised to the peerage as Baron St Just, of St Just in Penwith in the County of Cornwall.[3]
During the Second World War, Grenfell was commissioned as a Lieutenant into the King's Royal Rifle Corps. On 26 November 1941, his father died and he succeeded as Lord St Just,[1] but could not take his seat in the House of Lords until reaching the age of twenty-one two years later.
On 1 June 1949, at St James's, Spanish Place, St Just married Leslie Nast, daughter of Condé Nast and Leslie Foster.[4][1] They were divorced in 1955, and on 25 July 1956 he married secondly Maria Britneva,[1] a Russian-born actress, the daughter of Alexander Britnev, whose mother had brought her to England as a child.[5] They lived at Wilbury House in Wiltshire; Maria continued to live there until her death in 1994.[6]
By his first wife, St Just was the father of Laura Claire Grenfell (born 1950), and by Maria Britneva he had two further daughters, Katherine Grenfell (1957),[1] known as Pulcheria,[7] and Natasha Jeannine Mary Grenfell (1959). His daughter Katherine married Oliver Gilmour.[1]