David Field Beatty, 2nd Earl Beatty,DSC (22 February 1905 – 10 June 1972), styledViscount Borodale from 1919 to 1936, was aRoyal Navy officer and BritishConservative Party politician.

Beatty was born on 22 February 1905. He was the eldest son of Admiral of the FleetDavid Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty and his wifeEthel. He had one brother,Peter Beatty. From his mother's first marriage to Arthur Tree (a son ofLambert Tree), he had an elder half-brother,Ronald Tree, who served as MP forHarborough and friend ofWinston Churchill. Ronald was married toNancy Keene Field (née Perkins) (widow of his first cousin Henry Field) andMarietta FitzGerald (née Peabody), a granddaughter of the Rev.Endicott Peabody.^[1]

His maternal grandfather was the American businessmanMarshall Field. His father was the second son of five children born toCaptain David Longfield Beatty and Katherine Edith Beatty (née Sadleir), both from Ireland: David Longfield had been an officer in theFourth Hussars where he formed a relationship with Katrine, the wife of another officer.^[2]

Beatty was educated at theRoyal Naval College, Osborne, on theIsle of Wight, and theRoyal Naval College, Dartmouth. In 1919, he gained thecourtesy title of Viscount Borodale when his father was createdEarl Beatty.^{[citation needed]}

In 1919, he gained the rank ofmidshipman in the service of theRoyal Navy. He was promoted to the rank oflieutenant in 1928. He would later serve in theLeicestershire Yeomanry, part of theTerritorial Army, and gained the rank of lieutenant in 1933.

Beatty, holding the rank of lieutenant commander, was awarded theDistinguished Service Cross in 1942.^[3]

From 1931 to 1936 he was theMember of Parliament (MP) forPeckham. His half-brotherRonald Tree also sat in Parliament at this time, as member forMarket Harborough, Leicestershire. During his time in parliament he held the office ofParliamentary Private Secretary to theParliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty from 1931 until 1936. He moved to theHouse of Lords when he succeeded as 2nd Earl Beatty on his father's death on 11 March 1936.^[4]

He also served as a member of theLondon County Council in 1937. In 1945, he served asUnder-Secretary of State for Air in theCaretaker Government after theSecond World War.^[4]

Beatty married four times, the first three times to Americans:

• Firstly, on 21 April 1937, as her 4th husband, to Dorothy Carlotta Power (d.1966), a daughter of Thomas Stack Power, an American salesman, and an elder sister of GeneralThomas Sarsfield Power,United States Army Air Forces, who directed the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan. Dorothy was formerly the wife successively of LaFrance Adelbert Mitchell, Harry Estie Reynolds Hall, and Edward Van Volkenburgh Sands. Beatty and Dorothy divorced in 1945 after which she remarried fifthly to John Gordon Baragwanath, whom she divorced, and sixthly and lastly, on 10 December 1954, toPeregrine Francis Adelbert Cust, 6th Baron Brownlow.^[4]

• Secondly, on 7 February 1946, Beatty married Dorothy Rita Furey (1918–2006), a daughter of Michael James Furey ofNew Orleans, Louisiana and the widow of Sgt. Richard Edward Bragg,RAF. However between 1946 and 1950 she had an affair withAnthony Eden, theConservative Party leader,^{[citation needed]} and they divorced in 1950, having had one son:^[4]

• David Beatty, 3rd Earl Beatty (b. 1946), who in 1971 married Anne Please, whom he divorced in 1982, and remarried toAnoma Corinne Wijewardene in 1984.^[4]

• Thirdly, on 5 July 1951, he married Adelle Dillingham (d.1990), a daughter of M. Dillingham, ofOklahoma City and formerly the wife of William V. O'Connor ofLos Angeles, California. They divorced in 1958 and in 1960 Adelle remarried to the American film directorStanley Donen. Beatty had one daughter by Adelle:^[4]
  • Lady Diana Beatty (b. 1952), who in 1974 marriedNicolas Gage, 8th Viscount Gage from whom she was divorced in 2004.^[4]

• Fourthly and lastly, on 3 December 1959, he married Diane Kirk Blundell, a daughter of John Rutherford Blundell ofHayling Island inHampshire. She was one of the last generation ofdebutantes to be presented to the Queen, in 1958.^[5] They remained married until his death. From his fourth marriage he had one son and one daughter:^[4]
  • Hon. Nicholas Duncan Beatty (b. 1961), who marriedLaura Keen (b. 1963), a writer, a granddaughter ofEdward Curzon, 6th Earl Howe and sister of actorWill Keen and poetAlice Oswald.^[4]
  • Lady Miranda Katherine Beatty (b. 1963), who in 1989 married Alan Stewart, the youngest son ofSir Dugald Stewart of Appin. In 2000 she married secondly to Michael Hutchinson ofExminster.^[4]

Lord Beatty died on 10 June 1972 and was succeeded by his eldest son David Beatty, 3rd Earl Beatty. After his death his widow remarried in 1973 toSir John Nutting, 4th Baronet ofChicheley Hall.^[4]

• The Peerage
• Hansard 1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by the Earl Beatty

• 1905 births
• 1972 deaths
• Beatty family
• British people of American descent
• Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
• Earls Beatty
• Leicestershire Yeomanry officers
• Marshall Field family
• Members of London County Council
• Ministers in the Churchill caretaker government, 1945
• UK MPs 1931–1935
• UK MPs 1935–1945
• UK MPs who inherited peerages

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