English aristocrat, politician and social reformer Alexander Gavin Henderson, the 2nd Baron Faringdon, also known as Lord Faringdon, was BOTD in 1902. Born in London to an aristocratic family, his grandfather was the 1st Lord Faringdon. He was educated at Eton College and Oxford University, where he befriended Evelyn Waugh. He became a prominent member of the louche social circle known as the Bright Young Things, with a friendship circle including Harold Acton, Cecil Beaton, Robert Byron, Tom Driberg, Hamish St. Clair-Erskine, L. P. Hartley, Brian Howard, James Lees-Milne, Nancy and Tom Mitford, Richard, David and Olivia Plunket Greene, Edith and Osbert Sitwell and Stephen Tennant. Described as a “roaring pansy”, Henderson was relatively open about his homosexuality. An infamous prankster, he once helped set fire to a portion of the River Thames with petrol. In 1925, he, Byron and Byron’s boyfriend Alfred Duggan undertook a tour of Europe which inspired Byron’s 1926 travel book Europe in the Looking Glass. In 1927, he married Honor Philipps, the daughter of Baron Kylsant. The marriage was unconsummated and annulled four years later. In 1934, he succeeded to the title of 2nd Baron Faringdon, inheriting the estate of Buscot Park. Unlike most of his family and contemporaries, he embraced left-wing politics, sitting as a Labour peer in the House of Lords (where he became infamous for starting a speech with “My Dears” instead of “My Lords”). A committed supporter of Spanish Republicanism, he supported anti-Fascist causes during the Spanish Civil War, joining medical aid committees and travelling to Spain to visit front-line hospitals. As a pacifist he was unwilling to fight, but donated his Rolls Royce to be used as an ambulance during the Battle of Teruel. He also worked as a stretcher bearer in a field hospital, where he proved surprisingly adept at managing the high-stress environment of armed combat. In 1939, he organised the transportation of refugees to Mexico, laying down a Union Jack at the entrance of the port and declaring it British territory, refusing to allow the Fascist forces entry so passengers could board their ships safely. Returning to England, he housed Spanish refugees in cottages on his estate, and drove his Rolls Royce (now pockmarked with bullets) around the country to raise funds for the Republican effort. During World War Two, he served in the London Fire Brigade, at one stage entering the House of Lords while still wearing his fireman’s uniform. After the war, he remained active in left-wing politics and worked to preserve historic British buildings. He died in 1977, aged 74, having given away much of his inheritance to charitable causes.