Hugh Lygon

Hugh Patrick Lygon (2 November 1904 – 19 August 1936 Rothenburg, Bavaria) was the second son of William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp, and is often believed to be the inspiration for Lord Sebastian Flyte in Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. He was a friend of Waugh's at Oxford (A. L. Rowse believed the two to be lovers), where both were members of the Hypocrites' Club (Lygon was also the president of the club),[1] along with their contemporary Murray Andrew McLean and the Plunket Greene's brothers, Richard and David. David Plunket Greene was a good friend of Hugh Lygon.[2]

Portrait of The Hon. Hugh Lygon, by Ranken (1927).

Education

He was educated at Eton and Pembroke College, Oxford.

Railway Club at Oxford, conceived by John Sutro, dominated by Harold Acton. Left to right, back: Henry Yorke, Roy Harrod, Henry Weymouth, David Plunket Greene, Harry Stavordale, Brian Howard. Middle row: Michael Rosse, John Sutro, Hugh Lygon, Harold Acton, Bryan Guinness, Patrick Balfour, Mark Ogilvie-Grant, Johnny Drury-Lowe; front: porters.

At Oxford Lygon was part of the Railway Club, which included: Henry Yorke, Roy Harrod, Henry Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath, David Plunket Greene, Edward Henry Charles James Fox-Strangways, 7th Earl of Ilchester, Brian Howard, Michael Parsons, 6th Earl of Rosse, John Sutro, Hugh Lygon, Harold Acton, Bryan Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne, Patrick Balfour, 3rd Baron Kinross, Mark Ogilvie-Grant, John Drury-Lowe.[3]

After leaving Oxford he worked in a bank in Paris before working in the City.

Death

Lygon died in Germany, where he was on a motoring tour with his friend, the artist Henry Wynn (a son of Lady Newborough). Lygon was standing in the road to ask the way and fell backwards, hitting his head on a stone. He died later due to a fractured skull, having spent four days in a hospital in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. His body was returned to England.[4][5]

References
  1. Lebedoff, David (2008). The Same Man: George Orwell and Evelyn Waugh in Love and War. Random House Publishing Group. p. 30. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  2. Byrne, Paula. Mad World. p. 12. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  3. Lancaster, Marie-Jaqueline (2005). Brian Howard: Portrait of a Failure. Timewell Press. p. 122. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  4. "Mr. Hugh Lygon Times Archive". The Times. London. 1936-08-20.
  5. Byrne, Paula. "Sex scandal behind Brideshead Revisited". The Times. Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved 2012-03-03. Archived from the original on 2009-08-10.
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