Brian Edmund Lewis, 2nd Baron Essendon (7 December 1903 – 18 July 1978), also known as Bug, was a British motor-racing driver, company director, baronet and peer.
Born in Edmonton, Middlesex, he was the only son of the first Lord Essendon, the shipping magnate, by his wife Eleanor (died 1967), daughter of R. H. Harrison of West Hartlepool. In 1938, he married Mary Duffil, widow of Albert Duffil, daughter of G. W. Booker of Los Angeles.
Educated at Malvern,[1] and Pembroke College, Cambridge, he was a Director of Furness Withy[2] (the family shipping firm), Barry Aikman Travel Ltd and Godfrey Davis & Co Ltd.
He raced Frazer Nashes in England in the 1920s and entered a private Maserati 8CM at the Swiss Grand Prix 1935. As The Times put it in 1978:
- 'Along with a distinguished band that included Lord Howe, Sir Henry Birkin, and the Earl of March, later the Duke of Richmond, he was one of a bunch of titled and talented amateurs who did much for the image of British motor racing in the 1920s and 1930s, albeit mainly at the wheel of foreign cars.'
In 1930, along with noted pilot Charles Barnard, he founded Brian Lewis and C.D. Barnard Ltd as aircraft dealers, becoming the main UK agent for de Havilland. In 1931 the company became Brian Lewis and Company Ltd and merged with Selfridges Aviation Department, declaring itself as “The largest retailers in the world”. Based at Heston Aerodrome in Middlesex, the company expanded to Hooton Park Aerodrome, Liverpool and later to Renfrew Airport, Glasgow and Ipswich. It later moved from Heston to Elstree Aerodrome, then known as Aldenham.[3]
In the late 1930s, he was a motoring correspondent of the News Chronicle and a President of the Guild of Motoring Writers.
Lord Essendon succeeded his father in the peerage and barony in 1944.
His main recreation was golf. He was a member of the Bath Club in London.
He lived in London and at Avenue Eglantine 5, Lausanne, Switzerland. He died in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Racing record
- Third in the 1930 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Talbot.
- Third in the 1932 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Talbot.
- Third in the 1933 24 Hours of Le Mans in an Alfa Romeo.
- First in the 1933 Mannin Moar in an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza.
- Sixth in the 1933 Nice Grand Prix in an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza.
- First in the 1934 Mannin Moar in an Alfa Romeo Tipo B.
- First in the 1935 Mannin Moar in a Bugatti T59.
- Did not finish the 1935 Nice Grand Prix in a Maserati 8C.
- Did not finish the 1935 Swiss Grand Prix in a Maserati 8CM.
- Not classified in the 1935 Donington Grand Prix in a Riley.
- 15th in the 1636 George Vanderbilt Cup in an ERA B-Type.
- 99th in the 1932 George Vanderbilt Cup in an ERA B-Type
24 Hours of Le Mans results
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1929 |  Fox & Nichol |
Tim Rose-Richards |
Lagonda OH | 2.0 | 29 | DNF | DNF |
| 1930 | Fox & Nichol |
Hugh Eaton |
Talbot AO90 | 3.0 | 162 | 3rd | 1st |
| 1931 | Fox & Nichol |
Johnny Hindmarsh |
Talbot AV105 | 3.0 | 132 | DNF | DNF |
| 1932 | A. W. Fox |
Tim Rose-Richards |
Talbot AV105 | 3.0 | 180 | 3rd | 3rd |
| 1933 | A. W. Fox |
Tim Rose-Richards |
Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 | 3.0 | 225 | 3rd | 3rd |
| 1934 | A.A. Rigby |
Johnny Hindmarsh |
Singer Le Mans 1½ Litre | 1.5 | 195 | 7th | 3rd |
| 1935 | Earl Howe |
Earl Howe |
Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 LM | 3.0 | 129 | DNF | DNF |
Source:[4] | |||||||
Complete European Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | EDC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | Earl Howe | Bugatti T51 | Bugatti 2.3 L8 | ITA | FRA 12 |
—1 | ||||||
| Sir Henry Birkin | Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 | Alfa Romeo 2.3 L8 | BEL 4 |
|||||||||
| 1935 | Earl Howe | Maserati 8CM | Maserati 3.0 L8 | MON | FRA | BEL | GER | SUI Ret |
ITA | ESP | 32nd | 55 |
Source:[5] | ||||||||||||
- Notes
- ^1 – Lewis was co-driver with Howe at the French GP and with Birkin at the Belgian GP, therefore rules excluded him from the championship.
References
- ↑ Cricket Archive profile of Brian Lewis. Archived 7 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine www.acscricket.com. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
- ↑ VIP Voyagers II Archived 25 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine (9 March 2009). R. M. S. Queen Mary: Vintage news about the stateliest ship afloat.
- ↑ "Brian Lewis & Co". The Aviation Ancestry Database of British Aviation Advertisements 1909-1990. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ↑ "All Results of Brian Lewis". racingsportscars.com. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ↑ "THE GOLDEN ERA – OF GRAND PRIX RACING". kolumbus.fi. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
- The Times, 19 July 1978. Obituary, page 19.
External links
- Cricket Archive profile of Brian Lewis. www.acscricket.com. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
- Historic Racing profile of Brian Lewis. www.historicracing.com. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
- List of famous students at Pembroke College, Cambridge : Brian Lewis, 2nd Baron Essendon www.listaba.com. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
- "historicracing.com: 188 - Fitted out in a nice bespoke suit and tie here we find 'Bug' ready to tackle the outer circuit at Brooklands in 1930." www.facebook.com. Retrieved 3 May 2010.