Neville Blond
Neville Blond was born in 1896 in Hull, Yorkshire, to Bernard and Rachel Blond. He studied at Manchester Grammar School and in Switzerland, then joined his family’s textile business. At the start of World War I he served in the army, earned two French decorations, and rose to the rank of major in the Royal Horse Guards. He returned to the family business in 1921. In 1927 he married Eileen Rebecca Nahum; they had two sons, Anthony and Peter. In 1944 he married Elaine Marks, daughter of Michael Marks.
A claim by John Kenneally VC said Blond was his father, but Blond paid maintenance and doubted the paternity.
During World War II Blond served in the Royal Air Force as a Wing Commander and later worked with the Ministry of Production and the Board of Trade. He was a trade adviser in the United States from 1948 to 1949, before returning to the family business in 1951.
Living in East Grinstead with Elaine, Blond and his wife opened their home to airmen recovering at Queen Victoria Hospital. They donated a block of research laboratories in 1959, and in 1964 helped open a unit for severely burned patients.
He was a patron of the Royal Court Theatre, an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, and the first chairman of the English Stage Company. He was awarded an MBE in 1945 and was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1950. He died in 1970.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 04:48 (CET).