(KCA). The two discussed the state of the nation and the need to grant Kenyans their independence In June 1957, Lennox-Boyd, who was Secretary of State for the Colonies, received a secret memorandum written by Eric Griffiths-Jones, the attorney general of Kenya. The letter described the abuse of Mau Mau detainees. The memorandum was passed on by Sir Evelyn Baring, the Governor of Kenya, who is alleged to have added a cover letter asserting that inflicting "violent shock" is the only way to deal with Mau Mau insurgents. In April 2011 a Guardian report described a cache of government documents which may indicate that, despite clear briefings, Lennox-Boyd repeatedly denied that the abuses were happening, and publicly denounced those colonial officials who came forward to complain. Personal life Lord Boyd married Lady Patricia Guinness (1918–2001), daughter of Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh, on 29 December 1938. His mother-in-law, the Countess of Iveagh, had been an MP in 1927–35 and he was brother-in-law to Sir Henry ('Chips') Channon, also an MP (1935–58), making them jointly a first mother-in-law and child-in-law set of MPs. They had three children: Simon Lennox-Boyd, 2nd Viscount Boyd of Merton (b. 7 December 1939) Hon. Christopher Lennox-Boyd (22 July 1941 – 3 August 2012) Hon. Mark Lennox-Boyd (b. 4 May 1943) Lord Boyd was knocked down and killed by a car when walking across Fulham Road in London in March 1983, aged 78, and, after cremation, was buried at St Stephen's Church, Saltash, Cornwall. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Simon. Lady Boyd died in May 2001, aged 83. She gave her name to the Viscountess of Merton cup, awarded at the Cornwall Spring Flower Show. According to many sources Lennox-Boyd was gay. He is depicted in James Lees-Milne's diary of 1942–1943, Ancestral Voices, as being infatuated with the American aesthete Stuart Preston. His passionate gay love affairs (and their recklessness), are revealed in Channon's diaries. Historian and biographer Michael Bloch describes the former regent and Crown Prince of Iraq, 'Abd al-Ilah, as being homosexual and a "close friend" of Lennox-Boyd. Bloch writes that after 'Abd al-Ilah was killed during the 14 July Revolution in 1958, "the revolutionaries discovered intimate letters from Lennox-Boyd among the Prince's papers, which they released to the world's press." Arms References External links |- 1904 births 1983 deaths 20th-century British lawyers Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Anglo-Scots British people of