Woolf 'Babe' Barnato

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Born on 27 September 1895 in Spencer House, London, Woolf 'Babe' Barnato was a multi-millionaire businessman, racing driver, amateur sportsman and one of the fast-living playboys who became part of the renowned Bentley Boys of the 1920 and 30s.

The youngest son of South African diamond millionaire Barney Barnato and Fanny Barnato (nee Bees), the young Woolf inherited his fortune aged just two years old, after his father's death during a sea crossing (there was speculation that his father had actually commmited suicide after the failure of a bank he owned, but this was never properly established). The first £250,000 of his inheritance was paid to Woolf in 1914 when he was just 19 years old.

He was also a relative of the wealthy Joel family, and benefited from a further inheritance after the murder of Woolf Joel in Johannesburg in 1898. After some years of ill-feeling, he broke-off his business arrangements with the Joels in 1917 (the Joels had taken over the family business when Barney Barnato died at sea in 1897). A bitter dispute then followed and when the case was finally settled in 1925, Woolf was awarded £900,000 plus £50,000 in costs. Sadly, in 1928 he also had to sue the Joels for the £50,000 as well as £23,883 for disbursements.

Woolf went up to Trinity College, Cambridge after formal schooling at Charterhouse, Surrey and his military service included time as an officer in France, Egypt and Palestine with the British Army's Royal Field Artillery.

His early life, with his sister Leah and brother Jack, was divided between the family's flat near Marble Arch in London, a villa in Brighton and his school, Charterhouse. From an early age, he was a competitive sportsman, being accomplished in cricket, golf, tennis, skiing and shooting and his calculating desire to win made him an ideal racing driver.

MARRIAGES

Barnato was married three times, to Dorothy Maitland Falk in 1915 (producing two daughters, Virginia and Diana - see below), Jacqueline Claridge Queally in 1932 (producing two sons, Peter Woolf and Michael Jay) and finally Joan Southgate, whom he married in December 1947, less than a year before he died.

Barnato's daughter by Dorothy Maitland Falk, Diana (Diana Barnato Walker), went on to lead her own extraordinary life, learning to fly when aged just 20 and then working as a ferry pilot during Worl½d War II, delivering aircraft such as the Supermarine Spitfire for the Air Transport Auxiliary to various airfield across the UK and Europe. After losing both a fiancée and a husband in flying accidents, she did not marry again but did become lovers with Whitney Straight an American pilot who was MD of BOAC and deputy Chairman of Rolls-Royce. This relationship which resulted in a son named Barney Barnato Walker in 1947. Diana wrote a book about her experiences entitled 'Spreading My Wings' and died aged 90 in 2008.

The Bentley company had lurched from one financial crisis to another since its inception in 1919 and in 1926 W O Bentley persuaded Barnato to inject capital into Bentley Motors, saving the company from bancruptcy. Barnato poured nearly £100,000 into the firm which, if viewed as a pure financial investment was obviously poor one, as the firm ultimately failed and was acquired by Rolls-Royce in 1931. However, it did give him much glamour and an 'establishment' image that he desired in addition to a ready supply of brand new Bentley cars. He was later quoted as saying, "I lost nearly £100,000 on Bentleys, but as I made over £120,000 on one diamond deal in that period, I suppose I shouldn't grumble". As far as the company was concerned, it was a lifeline - though arguably its image changed from a small manufacturer of highly-engineered motor cars for the smart, discerning motorist to a supplier of flashy sports cars for the nouveaux riches.

Though Barnato was prepared to risk money on this scale, he was careful with his money, being notoriously difficult to even extract a cigarette from! But he was no spoiled rich kid; he possessed a remarkable business acumen and was regarded by W.O. Bentley as the best driver of the period - one who never made a mistake and always obeyed orders (a rare quality in financially independent, strong-willed racing drivers).

RESIDENCES

Barnato lived for most of the time in London, at his house at 39 Elsworthy Road, Hampstead whilst married to Dorothy Maitland and, after his divorce, at his flat at 50 Grosvenor Square in Mayfair, on the south east corner of the square. Other Bentley Boys also had flats in the same block and, such was the number of Bentley cars parked outside, the location was known to taxi drivers as 'Bentley's Corner'.

He also owned a huge country house named Ardenrun Place, situated near Lingfield, Surrey, UK. Bought from the Konig family, the house was the scene of many lavish motor racing-themed parties for Barnato and his rich friends and fellow Boys for many years, but was sadly destroyed by fire on 14 March 1933.

After the loss of Ardenrun, in 1938 he built a large castellated home named Ridgemead in Englefield Green, Surrey, at a cost of more than £100,000. Designed by Robert Lutyens, son of Sir Edwin Lutyens, and extremely advanced for its time, Ridgemead featured innovations such as central heating, a 'talkie' cinema and a drive lit by secret light rays. It boasted 25 bedrooms, a pool and was set in 25 acres of land overlooking the River Thames at Runnymede.

He also owned Nuthill Farm in Redhill, Surrey, and, during his final marriage to Joan Southgate, he purchased a house on Perot's Island, an 8-acre site in Bermuda, "as an investment after my death".

SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS

He acquired his first Bentley in 1925 (just 12 months before he also acquired the business itself) and with this car he won numerous Brooklands races. Apart from his famous three wins in Bentleys at Le Mans in 1928, 1929 and 1930, Barnato also won the Brooklands Six Hour Race and Double Twelve Race in 1930 and famously beat the Blue Train from Cannes to London in March 1930 (see below).

He collected trophies for motor boat racing (including the Duke of York Trophy, 1925), was an accomplished wicketkeeper for the Surrey 1st and 2nd XI teams and a keen shot. He bred horses whilst at his house 'Ardenrun' and hunted with the Old Surrey and Burstow Foxhounds, was a 'scratch' golfer, strong swimmer and played tennis to 'country house level'.

THE BLUE TRAIN RACE

Arguably the most luxurious means of transport in the 1930s was the Le Train Bleu, which began running from Calais to Cannes in 1922, carrying its wealthy passengers in five-star comfort to their hotels and villas on the French Riviera. The train was a symbol of wealth and success and it became popular amongst those who had the mean to race the train between it departure and arrival points, with drivers risking their lives on the as-yet-undeveloped Routes Nationales in a variety of motor cars, including Rover and Alvis. The manufacturers subsequently boasted of their achievements in advertisements, which caught Barnato's eye.

Whilst on the Cote d'Azur in March 1930, Barnato was in the Carlton Hotel with friends and they began discussing the races. Barnato was dismissive of cars such as Rover and Alvis beating the Blue Train, taking the view that, "the achievements advertised do not deserve much merit". He claimed that he could not only beat the Blue Train from Cannes to Calais, but he could actually reach London before the train reached Calais, driving one of his Bentleys.

With his experience of Le Mans racing wins under his belt and the associated meticulous planning and practice, Barnato set 13th March 1930 as the date for his attempt at beating the train. His planning included a specific route, not exactly the same as the train but rather taking a course directly north, whilst the train initially headed west along the Frecnh coast to Marseilles. Carefully-planned fuel stops were arranged for every four hours along the route, with additional cans of fuel stored in the boot of his Bentley just in case.

Barnato used his large four-door Mulliner-bodied Speed Six for the race, not his low-roofed Gurney Nutting Speed Six as had previously been thought. He set off from the bar of the Carlton Hotel in Cannes at just before 6pm on 13th March, accompanied by his friend Dale Bourne as unofficial co-driver. Their first fuel stop was at Aix-en-Provence, then Lyon and Auxerre (where he had arranged for a fuel lorry to be waiting. In fact, the lorry was not where the had planned and he lost some time locating it). Barnato drove through the night, encountering fog and rain on the poor, unpaved roads of the day. Running around 45 mintues late on arrival in Paris, he then suffered a puncture when leaving the city, losing more time, but arrived at the docks in Boulogne at 10:30am on 14th March - perfect timing for the 11:30 sailing to Folkestone, UK.

After a 1hr 20 min crossing, the Speed Six arrived at Folkestone for the final 80 mile blast to London. Knowing that they had a comfortable margin over the Blue Train, Barnato slowed down and reached Dales Bourne's club (the Conservative) in St James's, London, at around 3.30pm. They had covered the 830 miles (excluding the sea crossing) in 22½ hrs, at an average speed of 43.43mph. Importantly, they had indeed reached London before le Train Bleu had arrived in Calais.

THE END OF BENTLEY MOTORS

With the Wall Street Crash of 1929, demand for luxury cars such as Bentleys fell dramatically and, by 1930, Bentley's finances had become so strained that Barnato's advisers recommended that he stop pouring money into the company. As a result, the firm was declared insolvent and passed into the hands of Rolls-Royce Motors for the sum of £125,000 after a sealed bid auction. Ironically, Barnato had bought a sizeable stake in Rolls-Royce not long before Bentley Motors was liquidated and by 1934 he was on the board of Bentley Motors (1931) Ltd.

After his involvement with Bentley Motors, Barnato continued ad-hoc motor racing and allowed his various cars to be used for racing by friends such as Tim Birkin. From 1940 to 1945 he was a Wing Commander with the Royal Air Force, responsible for the protection of aircraft factories against German bombing raids.

DEATH

'Babe' Barnato died at the London Clinic, Devonshire Place, London, on 27 July 1948, aged just 53, as a result of a thrombosis after an operation for cancer. His funeral cortege was led by one of his former racing Bentleys 'Old Number One', which was laden with flowers and wreaths. He is buried at St Judes Church in Englefield Green, Surrey, UK, in a marked grave and next to his son-in-law Derek Walker (who had married his daughter Diana in 1944). Estimates of his wealth at the time of his death were between £1.5 and 5m.