Childhood and Inheritance
Born into an Anglo-Irish aristocratic family from Ulster, he was the youngest child and only son of The 4th Marquess of Dufferin and Ava and his wife, Maureen Guinness (daughter of The Hon. Arthur Ernest Guinness, of the Earls of Iveagh). One of his sisters was the novelist Lady Caroline Blackwood.
Named after his playwright ancestor Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Lord Dufferin was known by his father's courtesy title Earl of Ava until he succeeded his father in the marquessate in 1945, when he was only 6 years old. When he was aged 12, trustees acting in his name sold Clandeboye, his ancestral seat, to his estates company for £120,000 in order "to maintain his station in life", as the trustees allegedly said at the time.
After attending the day school Garth House in Bangor, County Down, he went to Eton College. After Eton he attended Christ Church, Oxford. A keen shot and sportsman, he played championship tennis at the Queen's Club, but it was at Oxford that he developed a passion for the arts.
Read more about this topic: Sheridan Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 5th Marquess Of Dufferin And Ava
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