1. Sir Gawaine George Hope Baillie, 7th Baronet was a British amateur motor racing driver, engineer, industrialist, stamp collector, and the owner of the estate surrounding Leeds Castle, the ancient fortress in Kent.
10 Facts About Gawaine Baillie
1. 2.
Sir Gawaine was raised at Leeds Castle, the ancient fortress in Kent that his mother Lady Baillie, a Whitney heiress, had bought with her sister Dorothy Paget in 1928.
3.
At age five, after World War II broke out, Baillie went to live with his American cousins, the Whitney family.
4.
Gawaine Baillie served as chairman and managing director of the company for the rest of his life.
5.
Gawaine Baillie was an amateur race car driver, competing in numerous championships against Stirling Moss, Mike Hawthorn and Jackie Stewart.
6.
Sir Gawaine Baillie's driving career began in 1956, when he first started racing a Lotus Eleven sports car.
7.
In 1961, Sir Gawaine Baillie entered the Tour de France automobile competition, finishing second in the touring car category.
8.
Sir Gawaine Baillie returned to the British Saloon Car Championship the following year, now campaigning an American-built Ford Galaxie.
9.
Sir Gawaine Baillie was interested in only the most perfectly preserved stamps and his collection is distinguished from others of comparable scale by his exacting standards.
10.
Gawaine Baillie mastered at least ten areas of specialisation and acquired over 100,000 stamps, of the highest quality including a copy of the scarce Edward VII 2d Tyrian plum.