Patrick William Dennis Craig MBE (1906 - 1972)

Born 2 Mar 1906 in London, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Son of James Craig and Cecil Mary Nowell Dering (Tupper) Craig

Husband of Aline Margaret Mary (Cumming) Hanbury — married 25 Apr 1931 in Kensington, London, England, United Kingdom

Husband of Marjorie Joy (Newton) Craig — married 21 Mar 1947 in Chelsea, London, England, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died 15 Aug 1972 at age 66 in Priston, Somerset, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

Dennis Craig was born 2 March 1906 at 17 Lennox Gardens, London, the younger twin son of James Craig (later created viscount Craigavon) and his wife Cecil. The twins were baptised 22 April following at St Columba’s (Church of Scotland), Pont Street, London.

Along with his brother Jimmy, he was educated at St Aubyn’s school, Rottingdean, Sussex, 1914-19 and at Eton College 1919-24. Dennis matriculated at Magdalen College, Oxford, 16 September 1924 and in 1925 he joined the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC).

In 1930 he met Aline Cumming and they were married on 25 April 1931 at St Mary Abbot’s, Kensington. They had one child, a daughter Deirdre, before divorcing in 1935. That same year he travelled abroad and worked for APOC in Iran and Iraq until 1940, when he joined the British Army at Cairo. He was awarded an MBE (Military) in 1942.

In 1944 he returned to London and worked in the War Office until demobilised at the end of 1945; he was married to Joy Newton 21 March 1947 at Chelsea Register Office. In 1949 he joined the United Africa Company (UAC) and they moved to Lagos, Nigeria. That same year his book ‘Horse Racing’ was first published by Pelican Books.

In 1960 he retired from the UAC and they returned from Nigeria to their cottage at Priston. A new edition of ‘Horse Racing’ was published in 1964, along with a further volume titled ‘Breeding Racehorses from Cluster Mares’.

He died 15 August 1972, and was buried at Priston.

Sources

• ‘’Burke’s Peerage’’, 107th edition (2003), sub ‘Craigavon’.

• Paternal and maternal relationships are confirmed by an AncestryDNA match between Deirdre Craig and her 1st cousin. Their most recent common ancestors are James Craig and Cecil Mary Nowell Dering Tupper. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: 1st Cousins, based on sharing 1,077 cM across 39 segments.