The Berners family were descended from King Edward III of England. Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, the 14th Baron Berners, also known as Lord Berners or Gerald Tyrwhitt, was a composer of classical music, costume and set designer(for a ballet), novelist, painter and conspicuous aesthete.
Gerald was born at Apley Park, Shropshire in 1883. His father, a naval officer, was rarely home thus leaving him with his grandmother who was extremely religious and self-righteous and mother, who is said to have had little intellect but many prejudices. His mother ignored his musical interests and instead unsuccessfully focused on developing his masculinity.
Berners was sent off to a boarding school in Cheam at the age of nine. It was there that he would first explore his homosexuality. For a short time, he was romantically involved with an older student, but the relationship ended abruptly after he accidentally vomited on the other boy. Gerald continued his education at Eton College where 'he learned nothing because the school was more concerned with shaping young men's characters than providing an education'. He travelled widely in his youth and served as an honorary diplomat in Europe before inheriting his title in 1918.
During the 1930s Gerald entertained on a lavish scale and Faringdon house was the scene of a series of glittering parties. Guests included Cecil Beaton, Rex Whistler, Constant Lambert, Diana Mosley and her sister Nancy Mitford, George Gershwin, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Salvador Dali.
Notorious for his eccentricity, dyeing pigeons at his house in Faringdon in vibrant colours, the idiosyncrasies Berners displayed started early in life. Upon hearing that you could teach a dog to swim by throwing it into water, the young Gerald promptly decided that by throwing his mother's dog out the window, he could teach it to fly. For his portrait painted by Spanish artist Gregorio Prieto he insisted on being depicted holding a lobster.
Lord Bernes died in 1950 at Faringdon House. His title passed to a female cousin, whilst his money went to his partner Robert ('Mad Boy') Heber Percy, who lived at Faringdon until his own death in 1987.
