Masquerades

John Randolph Leslie was born on the 24th September 1885 at Castle Leslie, County Monaghan, Ireland, into an Anglo-Irish family. He was also a first cousin to Sir Winston Churchill.

After being schooled at home by a German governess he went to Ludgrove School before Eton and then King’s College, Cambridge. He rebelled against his Protestant upbringing and converted to Catholicism. He viewed the world from a socialistic outlook and in 1907 even travelled to Russia to spend time with Leo Tolstoy.

Leslie ran unsuccessfully as an Irish Home Rule candidate and thereafter saw the family assets begin to wane considerably.

As an author he was responsible for over 40 books, spanning poetry, ghost stories, and several biographies.

He was appointed a Privy Chamberlain by Pope Pius XI and, in 1944, became the 3rd Baronet of Glaslough.

Shane Leslie died on the 14th August 1971 at 15b Palmeira Court, Hove, East Sussex. He was 85.

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