Robin Henry Charles Neville was born on 29 January 1932 as the only son of
Henry Seymour Neville, 9th Baron Braybrooke, and Muriel Evelyn Manning. When he was seven years old, during
World War II, he was evacuated to
Llandovery, Carmarthenshire in
South West Wales and stayed at the home of a retired guard of the
Great Western Railway. While staying in Llandovery he developed an interest in railways. He later had a miniature railway built at Audley End. He was educated at
Eton College and served in the
Rifle Brigade. From 1951 to 1952 he served in the 3rd Battalion
King's African Rifles in Kenya and
Malaya. When he returned to England after his military service, he studied history at
Magdalene College,
Cambridge, graduating in 1955. He held honorary degrees from the
University of Essex and
Anglia Ruskin University. A trained pilot, he operated a small airfield on the Audley End Estate called the Audley End International Aerodome.
Audley End House was sold to
English Heritage in 1948 by the trustees of the estate in tenure of the 9th Baron Braybrooke. On his death the life interest in the 6,500 acre Audley End Estate transferred to
Louise Newman, the granddaughter of the 7th Baron Braybrooke. His eldest daughter, Amanda, criticised
agnatic primogeniture, which stops daughters from inheriting titles where the original
letters patent specify that it may be inherited by males only. == References ==