Sir Tatton Sykes, 5th Baronet

Bust of Sir Tatton Sykes in St Nicholas' Church, Wetwang

Sir Tatton Sykes, 5th Baronet (13 March 1826 – 4 May 1913) was an English landowner, racehorse breeder,[1] church-builder[2] and eccentric.[3]

He was the elder son of Sir Tatton Sykes, 4th Baronet and Mary Ann Foulis, and succeeded to the Sykes baronetcy on his father's death in 1863. His brother was the Conservative MP Christopher Sykes.[4] He lived at Sledmere, near York and served as Deputy Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire, and later High Sheriff of Yorkshire for 1869–70.[5]

On 3 August 1874, at the age of 48, he married novelist Christina Anne Jessica Cavendish-Bentinck (d.1912), daughter of George Augustus Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck and Prudentia Penelope Leslie. His wife was 30 years younger than him, and was later convicted of issuing cheques in her husband's name. They had one son, Sir Tatton 'Mark' Sykes (1879-1919).[6]

Sykes died in May 1913 at age 87, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son. He owned 34,000 acres (14,000 ha) of land in the East Riding of Yorkshire.[7]

  1. ^ "The late Sir Tatton Sykes". The Argus. Melbourne, Victoria. 13 June 1913. Retrieved 13 March 2018 – via Trove.
  2. ^ "On the trail of Sir Tatton Sykes' churches". York Press. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Sykes, Sir Tatton, fourth baronet (1772–1863)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26870. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) Includes substantial section on 5th baronet
  4. ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1898). "Sykes, Tatton" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 55. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  5. ^ "The London Gazette". The London Gazette. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  6. ^ Townend, Peter. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 105th edition. London, U.K.: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1970.
  7. ^ The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland. p. 432.