We need a memorial to a visionary aristocrat
Though I cannot claim to have known Gerald Westminster well, I do know that he was a good man. When he was commanding the Cheshire Yeomanry, he invited me to join them on an exercise in Germany, rehearsing for a Nato deployment. On the first morning, we woke before 7am to a drizzly Bavarian dawn. There must have been a moment when many of the Duke’s Yeomen were wishing that they were somewhere else – almost anywhere else.
Then the CO appeared, bounding around the encampment. “Morning, Corporal Brown, how the devil are you? Come on holiday with me, lads, and I take you to all the nicest places.” Meanwhile, there was a growing smell of coffee and bacon. Morale was rising by the second. It was absolutely obvious that the Colonel-Duke was a natural leader. He eventually rose to be a territorial Major-General.
Gerald had intended to be a regular soldier, but his father became an invalid while he was still in his teens. Heavy responsibilities beckoned. Yet he remained loyal to the TA, and gave a great deal of time to it, and to other military causes.
They included Headley Court in Surrey. In recent years, a combination of high-intensity campaigns and medical advances has created an intensified long-term problem and a new national duty. Hundreds of young men have returned from the front line with terrible, often crippling, injuries. Even so, most can expect a long life. In recent years, there has been a lot of talk about the military covenant, a solemn undertaking by the civilian population to support and succour our soldiers, especially the serious casualties.
Gerald involved himself with the efforts to ensure that they should have as fulfilled a life as possible.
The Paralympics have been part of that: Headley Court, a country-house version of the Royal Hospital, which sustains the Chelsea pensioners, will continue to play a crucial role. The Duke put up at least £50 million of his own money.
Obviously, he was able to do so. When he inherited, his responsibilities involved the stewardship of great riches. But no man was ever less tempted by the life of the idle rich.
His wealth never interfered with his sense of duty. Gerald believed in public service. He involved himself in a large number of charities, and was always far more than a donor. If he decided that a charity was worth supporting, he would commit time and energy.
He always drove himself hard – sometimes too hard. A few years ago, there was a breakdown. His health never fully recovered, partly because he refused to slow down. This was a man for whom life revolved around missions.
Those tempted to resent that should ask themselves what London would have looked like without the influence of the great aristocratic proprietors. The Russells, the Cadogans and Gerald’s own family, the Grosvenors, have endowed London with squares, crescents and terraces that delight the eye and that have been a vital component of London’s civilisation. Compare and contrast with the ghastly modern buildings that disfigure great chunks of the city.
The Luftwaffe, municipal socialism and inhumane modern architects such as Richard Seifert and other disciples of le Corbusier have been responsible for the sort of hideous housing in which social problems flourish. If only the aristocrats had remained in charge of London’s town planning – with the later assistance of Prince Charles – there would have been significant improvements in almost every aspect of London life.
Gerald ensured the Grosvenors’ activities and benevolence reached well beyond London. The family had already made large and profitable investments in Vancouver. But they have always had strong links with north-west England, which is why some of the grandest streets in Belgravia bear the names of small Cheshire villages.
The Duke decided it was time to go further, and that another seaport needed urgent attention. So he financed a massive new development in Liverpool, Liverpool One. As is the nature of such grand projects, it went way over budget, eventually costing three quarters of a billion pounds.
If this had happened to a privatesector company with anxious bankers and shareholders, there would have been chaos. If government had been involved, the bills would have continued to rise. The Grosvenors just ploughed on. Liverpool 1 is working. It is the Northern powerhouse in action.
It will have a significant impact on the regeneration of Liverpool, paying social and economic dividends for decades to come.
None of this would have happened without the presence of large amounts of private wealth. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Grosvenors enhanced London. In the 21st century, they moved on to Liverpool. We should all be grateful that their fortune did not disappear into the maw of government expenditure and government waste.
Liverpool One will gradually amortise its capital costs. In 50 years’ time, the new Duke will be saluting his father’s prescience and boldness.
In southern Spain, Gerald Westminster created an earthly paradise. The partridge and wild-boar shooting is of the highest quality, while lynxes and eagles flourish.
In London as in Liverpool, Gerald made a significant contribution to urban welfare. But at his core, he was a profound countryman. Few of his contemporaries had such a depth of experience, a breadth of understanding, such a love for all aspects of rural life.
He has died far too early. But there are large numbers of legacies and enduring contributions. Gerald Westminster deserves to be commemorated by a statue. Liverpool would be a fitting location for such a fitting memorial.