Henry Gage, 6th Viscount Gage

Who was Henry Gage, 6th Viscount Gage?

Henry Rainald Gage, 6th Viscount Gage, KCVO, was Viscount Gage of Firle Place during much of the 20th century.

He was born to Henry Charles Gage and Leila Georgina Peel. His father died in 1912, leaving to him the title Viscount Gage when he was only 16. Gage served in World War I as a Captain of the Coldstream Guards, seeing action in both France and Belgium.

In 1931, Gage donated papers and letters written between 1758 and 1764 by his famous relative General Sir Thomas Gage to the William L. Clements Library of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Gage later donated letters and documents from ancestral in-law Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Warren to the Sussex Archaeological Society in Lewes.

At the beginning of World War II the family moved to a smaller house and nearby Southover girls' school in Lewes was evacuated for a short time to Gage's family home in Firle. After they had moved, Canadian soldiers were quartered at the family manor. In 1952, Gage's mother-in-law died, leaving art work to Lady Imogen. The couple decided to showcase the art in their home, opening Firle Place to public tours in 1954.

In 1968 Lady Imogen died. Gage remarried in 1971 to Diana Cavendish.