John Graham Menzies (1861-1911)
"Hellfire Jack" of Escrick Park, Yorkshire & Upper Grosvenor Street, London
He was born in Edinburgh and was educated in England at Rugby and Brasenose College, Oxford. In 1884, his elder brother, W.D. Graham Menzies, amalgamated their late father's whisky business with the D.C.L. (Distiller's Company Ltd.) and in 1885 he stipulated that Jack (as he was known) was to be made a full director with a special responsibility for watching over the family interests. However, he was perhaps more often found fulfilling his role as Master of the Linlithgow & Stirlingshire Hunt.
He unsuccessfully stood for Parliament and quickly gained a reputation as an alcoholic who gambled heavily at cards and on the turf. His various directorships courtesy of his father's whisky empire made him "devilishly rich" but by 1903 he had lost almost every penny he had through gambling debts and a string of bad investments, notably on a failed diamond mine in South Africa. In 1887, he married Susannah, the eldest daughter of Arthur Wilson, of the Wilson Shipping Line. They were the parents of three sons and lived between Escrick Park in Yorkshire and 46 Upper Grosvenor Street in London - not to be confused with the mansion at 46 Grosvenor Street that was finished in 1911. In 1906, his wife left him, taking herself and their three sons to her parents home, Tranby Croft. They never divorced, but Jack died just five years later (1911) of tuberculosis, leaving a minimal estate. Just one year later (1912), his widow remarried Sir George Lindsay Holford.
He unsuccessfully stood for Parliament and quickly gained a reputation as an alcoholic who gambled heavily at cards and on the turf. His various directorships courtesy of his father's whisky empire made him "devilishly rich" but by 1903 he had lost almost every penny he had through gambling debts and a string of bad investments, notably on a failed diamond mine in South Africa. In 1887, he married Susannah, the eldest daughter of Arthur Wilson, of the Wilson Shipping Line. They were the parents of three sons and lived between Escrick Park in Yorkshire and 46 Upper Grosvenor Street in London - not to be confused with the mansion at 46 Grosvenor Street that was finished in 1911. In 1906, his wife left him, taking herself and their three sons to her parents home, Tranby Croft. They never divorced, but Jack died just five years later (1911) of tuberculosis, leaving a minimal estate. Just one year later (1912), his widow remarried Sir George Lindsay Holford.
Share
Contributed by Mark Meredith on 01/10/2019 and last updated on 27/01/2023.