Maurice Arnold de Forest (9 January 1879 – 6 October 1968) was an early motor racing driver, aviator and Liberal politician in the United Kingdom. He held noble titles as a baron in Austria and later as Count de Bendern in Liechtenstein.
Early life
Born in Paris, in the Rue Laugier (in the 17th arrondissement), Maurice Arnold de Forest was reportedly the elder of the two sons of Edward Deforest/de Forest (1848–1882), an American circus performer, and his wife, the former Juliette Arnold (1860–1882). He had a younger brother, Raymond (1880–1912). The boys' parents died in 1882, while on a professional engagement in the Ottoman Empire, of typhoid.
Sent to live in an orphanage, they were adopted on 16 June 1887 by the wealthy Baroness Clara de Hirsch (née Bischoffsheim), wife of banker and philanthropist Baron Maurice de Hirsch, and given the surname de Forest-Bischoffsheim. Baron and Baroness de Hirsch had lost their only surviving child, Baron Lucien de Hirsch (1856–1887), to pneumonia earlier that year. The de Forest children, however, were identified by Juliette Arnold de Forest as Baron de Hirsch's illegitimate sons.
Baron de Hirsch died in Hungary at the age of 64 in 1896. His widow Clara died three years later, on 1 April 1899. Maurice inherited his adoptive father's residence, Eichhorn Castle (now known as Veveří Castle) near Brno in Moravia, then part of Austria-Hungary. Maurice inherited from the Baroness 25,000,000 Francs, as well as her estates in Rossitz-Eichhorn. Baron de Hirsch had bought the estates in Rosice in 1881.
Maurice de Forest-Bischoffsheim was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. In 1899, he was awarded the title Freiherr von Forest by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. According to the Court Circular, on 6 March 1899, "The Emperor of Austria has given the title of Baron De Forest to M. Arnold [De] Forest and to his brother M. Raymond De Forest, both the adopted sons of Baroness de Hirsch de Gereuth, widow of the late Baron de Hirsch." Both men inherited millions of dollars from Baroness de Hirsch upon her death.
In the following year, he was naturalised as a British citizen, and was authorised to bear the title Baron de Forest by royal licence. He was commissioned into the Militia as a second lieutenant in the Prince of Wales's Own Norfolk Artillery (Eastern Division) on 25 August 1900. He resigned his commission on 20 June 1903, but this was later cancelled and he became second lieutenant in the Staffordshire Imperial Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment) on 4 July 1903. He resigned this commission on 5 May 1906, by which time he was also an honorary second lieutenant in the Army.
De Forest converted from Judaism to Roman Catholicism.
Winston Churchill visited de Forest at his Lancashire home, Rosefield Hall, near Southport. Churchill also spent much time on de Forest's yacht and stayed three times (in 1908 together with his wife during their honeymoon journey) at de Forest's Eichhorn Castle in Moravia.
Marriages
De Forest was married twice, his wives being: Mathilde Madeleine Rose Menier, née Letellier, the widow of chocolate magnate and a daughter of , a French newspaper publisher. They married in 1901 and had one daughter, Mabel Béatrix Clara Mary Magdalen de Forest (born 5 March 1902). The marriage was declared null and void by a decree of the Pope in 1902. Hon. Ethel Gerard, daughter of William Cansfield Gerard, 2nd Baron Gerard, whom he married in 1904 and divorced in 1911. They had two sons, Alaric de Forest (1905–1973) and John de Forest (both later adopted the surname de Bendern). The marriage broke down in January 1910, due to the baroness's adultery with a younger man. He had another son, Ingvar de Forest, from a reliationship with Irma Paula Margareta Engström. Ingvar was the father of singer Emmelie de Forest
Motoring and aviation
De Forest was an enthusiast for the emerging technologies of motor cars and aeroplanes. An accomplished motor racing driver, he competed in a number of major races including the Gordon Bennett Cup in auto racing. From 1903 to 1905 he held the Daily Mail Challenge Cup, having attained a record speed over the flying kilometre at Phoenix Park, Dublin, breaking the world land speed record.
In 1909 he offered the Baron de Forest Prize of £2,000 to the first Englishman who could fly across the English Channel in an English-built aeroplane. When a Frenchman, Louis Blériot successfully crossed the Channel in July 1909, he doubled the prize to £4,000. It was eventually won by Thomas Sopwith in December 1910.
He was also a rider of the Cresta Run in St. Moritz where a cup was named after him.