A 9 carat rose-gold penknife presented to Viscount Milton,
Brookes and Crookes, Sheffield 1927
Of traditional form, the main body in rose-gold, to one side the inscription 'Viscount Milton' and to the other 'Opening of Canteen, S.Y.C. Works. 31. Dec. 1931', a suspension ring to one end, two stainless steel pull-out blades and a small pair of scissors, in original leather case, length closed 8cm.
Footnotes:
Viscount Milton was the title held by the eldest son of the Earl Fitzwilliam, who resided at the Grade I listed Wentworth Woodhouse, near Rotherham in Yorkshire; one of the largest private residences in Europe. With 365 rooms and the longest front of any house in Britain, this architectural gem was home to the prime minister, Charles Watson Wentworth, second Marquess of Rockingham (1730-82), whose estates passed in 1782 to his nephew, William Wentworth Fitzwilliam, Earl Fitzwilliam (1748-1833), a leading Whig politician. Subsequent Earls included William 'Billy' Charles de Meuron Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 7th Earl Fitzwilliam, KCVO, CBE, DSO (1872–1943), styled Viscount Milton from 1877 to 1902, a British Army officer, nobleman, politician, and aristocrat. The family operated coal mines, along with interests in glass, pottery, tar, chemicals and cars. On-going real estate investment developed the estate into one of England's most significant landholdings.

Earl Fitzwilliam, known as 'Billy', ruled with a gentle touch, ensuring the Fitzwilliam collieries were the safest, and that his workers received help during economic blights, including the 1926 General Strike, when he taught miners on pit ponies how to play polo on his front lawn, and fed them during their eight months without pay. His heir, William Henry Lawrence Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, became the 8th Earl Fitzwilliam, DSO (31 December 1910 – 13 May 1948), styled Viscount Milton before 1943. Known as 'Peter', he was the fifth child and only son of the 7th Earl Fitzwilliam.

This gold penknife was presented to Viscount Milton (Peter) on his 21st birthday, 31st December 1931, by his father's tenants and employees. Earl Fitzwilliam had organised a large celebration for his son's coming of age, with 'a big programme of ceremonies and festivities and exchange of gifts. The Earl is marking the event by presenting a new canteen to his employees of the South Yorkshire Chemical Works, a new cricket and football ground complete with pavilion to his employees at New Stubbin Colliery, and a reconstruction of the Elsecar Market Hall which becomes a village hall and social centre for the people of that district. The tenants and workpeople for their part are to offer gifts to the young heir and for this occasion, we shall see some faint revival of these old-time baronial festivities ...' (reported in the South Yorkshire Times and Mexborough & Swinton Times, Friday 04 December 1931 and Sheffield Daily Telegraph, Thursday 31 December 1931). On the morning of his 21st, Viscount Milton was given a tour of the district. He opened several sites by cutting the ribbons with a gold penknife, which explains the inscription on the lot on offer. Guests at the party in the evening included more than 5000 workmen, many of whom were coalminers employed by Lord Fitzwilliam.

Milton married, on 19 April 1933, Olive Dorothea 'Obby' Plunket (died 1975). They had one daughter, Lady Anne Juliet Dorothea Maud Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, born on 24 January 1935. In 1943 he inherited the Earldom and a great fortune in land, houses, and art, from his father. During the Second World War, Lord Milton (as he then was) served with distinction in the Commandos and later with the Special Operations Executive, gaining a Distinguished Service Order.

In Lord Fitzwilliam's later years his marriage was in disarray, and at the time of his death he was seeking a divorce, intending to marry his clandestine lover. From 1946 he had been romantically linked with the widowed Kathleen 'Kick' Kennedy (1920-1948), the sister of the future U.S. President John F. Kennedy. In 1944, Kathleen Kennedy, known to friends and family as 'Kick', had married William 'Billy' Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington and the future Duke of Devonshire. She became the Marchioness of Hartington and her older brother, Joe Kennedy Jr, was the only Kennedy in attendance at the wedding (the Kennedy clan did not approve).

Four weeks after the wedding ceremony, 'Billy' Cavendish was sent to the Belgian front. In August of the same year, Joe Kennedy Jr was killed when his plane exploded while he was over France on a secret bombing mission. Less than a month later – four months after Billy and Kick wed – Billy was shot through the heart by a German sniper.

After mourning Joe in the United States, Kick returned to England as Lady Hartington. She soon found love again with Peter, now Earl Fitzwilliam (the former Viscount Milton until the death of his father in 1943), however their liaison scandalised London society – she was a titled Catholic war widow having an affair with a Protestant married man. The Kennedy family, as devout Catholics, warned Kick that if she went on to marry Lord Fitzwilliam, she would be disinherited and banished from the Kennedy clan. No one knows what the couple were planning when they took off for France on 13th May 1948 from Croydon airport, as storms caused the plane to crash in the mountains, killing all passengers and crew.

The Kennedy family kept the death quiet, due to the scandalous circumstances surrounding Kick's death and because of JFK's burgeoning political career. To prevent a public scandal, the nature of their relationship was not made clear in the newspaper accounts at the time. Peter was 37 years old and 'Kick' just 28 years old when they died.

Kick's father Joe was the only Kennedy at the funeral.

This 'Viscount Milton' gold penknife therefore has a fascinating back story - it is not 'just' a gold penknife, but is imbibed with living history, owned by a man who was born into great wealth and status, who lived fast, was brave in battle, but died in scandal, and forever linked to the ill-fated Kennedy's.

Literature
Cathleen Bailey, 'Black Diamonds: The Rise and Fall of an English Dynasty', Penguin Books, 2011
Tierney McAfee, 'How Kathleen 'Kick' Kennedy's Scandalous Marriage Was 'Political Poison' to JFK's Path to the White House', People Magazine, published April 15, 2016