Harold Augustus Wernher

Sir Harold Augustus Wernher, 3rd Baronet GCVO TD (16 January 1893 – 30 June 1973)

Biography

He was the son of Sir Julius Wernher, 1st Baronet and his wife, Alice Sedgwick Mankiewicz. On 20 July 1917, Harold married Anastasia de Torby (9 September 1892 Wiesbaden - 7 December 1977 London), the eldest daughter of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich Romanov and they had three children:

• Captain George Michael Alexander Wernher (22 August 1918 – 4 December 1942) at the age of 24 he died in World War Two.
• Georgina Wernher (17 October 1919 – 28 April 2011) she married Lt.-Col. Harold Joseph Phillips (6 November 1909 – 27 October 1980) on 10 October 1944. They have five children, fifteen grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren. She remarried Lt.-Col. Sir George Kennard, 3rd Bt. in December 1992.
• Myra Alice Wernher (b. 8 March 1925) Lady Butter is a Patroness of the Royal Caledonian Ball.^[1] She married Major Sir David Henry Butter (1920-2010), son of Colonel Charles Adrian James Butter, on 5 November 1946. They had five children, nine grandchildren and four great-grandsons:
  • Sandra Elizabeth Zia Butter (26 July 1948) she was a bridesmaid in Katharine, Duchess of Kent wedding.
  • Maralyn Ramsay, Countess of Dalhousie (22 March 1950) she married James Hubert Ramsay, 17th Earl of Dalhousie on 3 October 1973. They have three children and four grandsons.
  • Rohays Georgina Butter (9 April 1952) she married Prince Alexander Peter Galitzine on 7 May 1988. They have two daughters:
    • Princess Sasha Alice Natalia Galitzine (10 February 1989)
    • Princess Nadhezda Georgina Galitzine (9 July 1990)
  • Georgina Marguerite Butter (9 July 1956) she married Peter Count von Pejacsevich on 4 December 1982. They have two children:
    • Alexander Geza Markus von Pejacsevich (15 July 1988)
    • Anastasia Lilia Sophia von Pejacsevich (30 May 1992)
  • Charles Harold Alexander Butter (10 April 1960) he married Agnieszka Szeluk on 1 September 2006. They have two children:
    • Julia Davinia Butter (20 December 2006)
    • Henry Archie Alexander Butter (27 July 2009)

He reached the rank of major-general during World War II, and played an important role in coordinating the logistics of Operation Overlord. In 1948, Harold inherited his baronetcy from his brother (who had no male heirs). He had previously inherited Luton Hoo upon his father's death. Harold died at Luton, Bedfordshire in 1973 and as he also did not have any surviving male heirs, the baronetcy became extinct. To avoid death duties the Wernher estate donated the Wernher Triptych to the British Museum.^[2]

References